So played around with the witch got turned into a newt... got better and here I am for report.
In my opinion the biggest parts that need concern on the witch were the Hexes, and the possible issues with familiar death. The second didn't happen so I'm sticking to what I did with the hexes:
Evil Eye (playtest note -- Ability Focus(Evil Eye) was used) -- So this was the first Hex I took and I'm glad I did. At low level it was wonderful -- killing the foes chances at doing whatever I didn't want him doing. About level 5 it started loosing its appeal however when in doubt I still went with it since it wasn't a limited resource. We did allow multiple hits from the Evil Eye to hit the same opponent so long as they targeted different things each time (no hexing AC two times in a row), though truthfully I generally only hit one or two problem abilities. Skills and ability checks rarely got hit, while saves, Attack, and AC were the most common targets in about that order. Level 8 it picked up it's appeal again when the penalty jumped up to -4... that's a lot to knock off someone's save throw, attack roll or AC. I don't feel it was unbalanced -- A save was allowed, and most spells that have similiar effects hit just about everything at once.
Cackle -- Honestly didn't get as much use as I thought it would. The only Hexes I had that it could affect were the Evil Eye (which had enough duration to outlast the opponent it was on usually) and Fortune, which did get used however moving out of dangerous areas was generally more appealing, however the few times it wasn't I was happy to Cackle away... but I generally didn't have anyone within range that had a Hex up currently. Over all not as useful as I had hoped but in a group that actively stays together and in range it might have been (our groups tend to split up and skirmish more than formation fighting).
Ward -- Wow this was nice. With no real duration and the bonus to AC and saves were great for the fighter. It basically saved us a ring and cloak... I would ward and if it went down I would ward the next person, and after combat they would pass the ring and cloak they had off to the person before... truthfully a bit metagamey but it will happen. However generally this stuck on the frontliner, and stand put. Probably too good truthfully, it is better than the equipment you are going to have for a while (at 8th level this still rings true since it gets better). With the Ward available the front liner soon realized that he could spend the cash he would have spent on rings of protection and cloaks of resistance on Amulets of natural armor and better defensive gear in general (even a Luckstone) which meant he went from tanking to really tanking.
Fortune -- Didn't get used that much. Yes it went up early if I went before people spread out, but most everyone was melee/ close oriented and my risk aversion for both the witch and the familiar meant I was generally more happy to Evil eye or cast a spell than to risk getting in range of hits myself to Fortune people. Over all it was better than other reroll mechanics in that I could keep it going for a while, and it was useful every round during that time, especially when more rolls started getting made in a round.