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Or perhaps more generally, a caster who has no intention of using weapons.
It seems to me that metamagic feats are generally poor picks, since higher level spells tend to be superior to the lower level spells with a metamagic on it. And there are rods to do it.
Item creation feats need a campaign with the downtime to use them, and essentially you're just selling your feat slot for tasty discounts on a type of magic item. This doesn't seem too appealing either.
So what's left? Take Spell Focus if you mostly keep to a single school? Spell Penetration if you're getting high enough level to meet lots of SR creatures? At least Summoners have a sort-of tree of feats they like, in Spell Focus -> Augment + Superior.
I feel like when I'm making a meleer, I've got many more interesting candidates for feats, but when I'm making a caster, I'm just taking Extra Class Feature nearly every time. (With a break for Improved Familiar, mostly for fluff).
Going back to the matter of witches, all I'm really seeing I should pick up is Accursed Hex, for those smaller fights. The fact that Hexes are supernatural, thus can be used while threatened with no problem, and don't care about SR means I don't care much about feats to bypass those problems either. I expect that if I hit level 20, my witch will have Accursed Hex, Split Hex, Improved Familiar, and the rest is all Extra Hex.
So, are the options really lacking as much as I think they are? Are there cool feats out there for pure casters (or specifically witches) that I've missed?
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for a human witch at first level extra hex (cackle) with the class feature hex (misfortune) then focus on buffing the party and staying out of combat. you bread and butter as a witch is the feat from APG that gives you the chance to force a second save, then when you're high enough level the ability to apply one hex to 2 different people. you dont play a witch like a evocation wizard, you play it like buffing wizard, so the same feats and skills apply to that witch.
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Extra Hex
Extra Hex
Extra Hex
Accursed Hex
Extra Hex
Extra Hex
Extra Hex
Extra Hex
Extra Hex
Extra Hex
What sort of campaign are you playing? What are other party members playing? What do you see as your "role" within the party?
Feats that let you get more hexes and do more with your hexes are good, but picking a good feat for your witch will depend on your party and campaign.
I find that the Heighten Spell metamagic feat is good, because it lets you take Preferred Spell. Preferred Spell lets you drop any prepared spell of that level or higher to spont cast a certain spell. I went with Dimension Door, myself; lost one character to some Black Tentacles, and I really don't want to end up in that situation again. xD
Thanks for the replies, SideKick and Taesla, but these don't really help me. I understand how to play a witch. Currently I'm lvl3, I have Slumber, Evil Eye, and Cackle. Combats have been large and mobility too valuable for me to ever be able to use Cackle, but Slumber has been an effective close range gun, while Glitterdust is excellent at range, and I toss out Enlarge Person as a buff. I feel like my Witch is doing an excellent job at keeping the party alive by denying baddies the opportunity to harm them, as well as enabling the party to take easy shots. At 10+, I'll also be adding Ice Tomb and Retribution to my arsenal of offensive hexes. I might give Cackle + Evil Eye/(Mis)Fortune a shot again in the future, but currently mobility is too valuable for me to just stand around.
I should have mentioned that I've looked at the Witch guide, and I find that echoes my sentiments that you're pretty much best off stockpiling Extra Hex, with a couple of frills (Accursed Hex and Split Hex). I think Improved Init is a nice choice, but not that amazing. It's good to go first if you're already in range of your enemies, but not so great if it just provides you a means to run up before the meleers do, and thus lose their protection if you beat the monsters, but the monsters beat them.
Spell Hex rated blue also puzzles me, to be honest.
Probably should've refreshed the page before I finished my reply.
Hopefully my prior post explains some things, Fionna. We have a vivisectionist alchemist, a fighter, and a lore oracle in the party, along with me. We're also getting a 5th, I think an archer ranger, but I'm not sure. So far our combats have been in wide areas, where we have to spend 1-2 rounds closing the distance with the enemies. I assume dungeons will come later, but currently we're mostly in wilderness.
Preferred spell seems like a quirky choice, might be worth considering. I think I'll just keep DD around as a prepped spell though because as mentioned it's an excellent GTFO button.
I don't especially care to go down the summoner's path, Erikk, because if I did, I would've made a Summoner or a Druid. I understand summoning has some pretty good utility behind it, but I'm pretty turned off by the full round casting.
Edit: Of course I'm glad I have feats. It just feels kinda weird that the best use of them most of the time is Extra Class Feature. I've got a decent initiative as well, +2 dex, +2 trait, so I'm not too worried. Winning initiative might seem like a bigger deal for me once we get into smaller environments, but I disagree that winning initiative is more important for a witch than any other character. It's good for meleers to get into formation, and pick their targets. It's good for rogues to sneak attack. It's good for blasters so they can get that first blast off before the enemy can scatter, or allies get caught in the mix. The Witch does have some nice area spells, but a lot of the hexes are single target debuffs.
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Thanks for the replies, SideKick and Taesla, but these don't really help me. I understand how to play a witch. Currently I'm lvl3, I have Slumber, Evil Eye, and Cackle. Combats have been large and mobility too valuable for me to ever be able to use Cackle, but Slumber has been an effective close range gun, while Glitterdust is excellent at range, and I toss out Enlarge Person as a buff. I feel like my Witch is doing an excellent job at keeping the party alive by denying baddies the opportunity to harm them, as well as enabling the party to take easy shots. At 10+, I'll also be adding Ice Tomb and Retribution to my arsenal of offensive hexes. I might give Cackle + Evil Eye/(Mis)Fortune a shot again in the future, but currently mobility is too valuable for me to just stand around.
misfortune is much better then slumber, unless you're playing with an evil character who allows sleeping coup de grace.
but anyway cackle is useful when you go invisible(4th with deception patron), because at that time you dont need to be mobile. you can cast hexes and cackle to your hearts content
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If you're worried about mobility you need to get a mount. Let's you range the battlefield and opens up your move action to Cackle at will! The Stone Horse, Ebon Fly, or even a simple Mount spell on a wand mean you don;t have to have a regular mount to worry about getting into hard to reach places.
--Vrock me Amadeus!
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I disagree, SideKick. Misfortune is certainly very annoying for opponents, but without support of Cackle (which is another Hex and your move action for the rest of the combat), it only lasts 1 turn (scaling to a few rounds at 8 and 16). Slumber shuts an opponent down, for rounds/level, straight up. Sure, an ally can wake them up, but the ally has to get to them, and waste his turn on that. Then the foe who just woke up is still prone, which is always nice. And that's worst case scenario (unless they make their save, in which case both hexes do nothing).
I took the Time Patron, but even so, I think hexing someone will wipe your invisibility away. It's a direct hostile action after all, not something indirect like cutting a rope that drops an Acme anvil on them. So you could Misfortune someone, turn invisible, and Cackle for the rest of combat. You're not accomplishing too much though. And I think opponents might get a circumstance bonus on their Perception, if you're Cackling.
An enemy can also move out of your Cackle range, and you'll have trouble keeping up with them while mantaining Cackle.
And it is not Evil to CdG a sleeping opponent. Maybe you would consider it dishonorable, but there are no rules of conduct for combat (unless you're having a duel with someone). All's fair in love and war as they say. When someone is out to kill you, it's not Evil to kill them first, whether they're sleeping or not.
Spell Hex rated blue also puzzles me, to be honest.
Spell Hex is incredibly campaign situational. You'll either have a spell that makes sense to have ready as a Hex (like Beguiling Gift) that really, really needs the high save and/or multiple uses per day, or you won't. Unfortunately, there's no generic answer on that.
I skipped out on Misfortune and Cackle on my Witch (currently level 6). Evil Eye and Slumber have been my big ones, but I also picked up Healing Hex and Flight for utility. Misfortune is amazing later on, but, as you mentioned, it's very difficult to keep up. The grace round after 8 is extremely helpful.
If you're worried about mobility you need to get a mount. Let's you range the battlefield and opens up your move action to Cackle at will! The Stone Horse, Ebon Fly, or even a simple Mount spell on a wand mean you don;t have to have a regular mount to worry about getting into hard to reach places.
--Vrock me Amadeus!
That's good advice, and it'd probably work for the wilderness section since AFAIK you don't need any fancy feats to cast while mounted. Do you get a combat trained horse from Mount though? It seems like you don't, near as I can tell. And to be honest, mounted is not the image I have for this character, so I think I'll pass on it. I intend to be flying around at lvl 5 anyway, which helps in access and avoiding melee, but not so much in getting free movement as a mount does.
Improved Initiative is always useful, and even more so if it helps you put opponents to sleep before they can join the fight. If your DM rules that Ability Focus works with hexes (I recall a staff member saying it did), this is also an excellent choice, just remember it must be taken separately for each hex. Improved Familiar is not just flavourful, many of the options are also very useful and have spell-like abilities which add versatility to your witch. Evolved Familiar can make it even more useful. Toughness is good if you roll low on your hit points or want to prioritise other ability scores higher than CON.
Otherwise it depends heavily on your play style. I sometimes take Extra Traits to get certain class skills, and the +2 to all knowledge skills from Breath of Experience is almost too good to resist if you qualify for it, but then again, I like my characters to be versatile and useful outside combat. Another option could be to see if any of the abilities gained by the witch archetypes were of interest, since most of those come at the cost of a hex which you could compensate for by taking the Extra Hex feat.
Good options, but a possible problem with Evolved Familiar is that you need 13 Cha. I guess it depends on if you want a well rounded character or not. Cha is probably the most easily dumped stat of the Witch though.
Picking up the Fly hex might really help your mobility problems, and let you cackle more often. Hover over where the action is, and rain down witchyness from above without needing to move out of the way of allies/baddies (and thus freeing up your move action for cackling).
Dimension Door is more than just a good GTFO button. My party has a two-handed fighter who uses a reach weapon, and if he gets grappled, he can't do much in a fight. I can move in, touch the fighter, and DD five feet back so the fighter can full attack on his turn. Things die quickly when the fighter's in the game.
Combat Casting might be a useful feat for you if it'll let you get more mileage out of your Cackle. You won't have to worry as much about moving out of an enemy's face before dropping another spell.
I also recommend Scribe Scroll. That's handy for the situational spells that you'll really want if the situation arises, but don't want to prepare every day. You can also use them to "back up" your familiar; if your familiar dies, you can feed the new one the scrolls so it learns all the spells the old familiar had.
Does your DM allow you to buy metamagic rods that don't technically exist? For example, there are some good metamagic feats in Ultimate Magic, but no magic items; this means that, right now, metamagic rods for those metamagic feats don't exist, yet. If your DM will let you buy the rods anyway, no worries, but if your DM won't allow this, take a closer look at the UM metamagic feats, as you may need to use the feat to get the ability.
I skipped out on Misfortune and Cackle on my Witch (currently level 6). Evil Eye and Slumber have been my big ones, but I also picked up Healing Hex and Flight for utility. Misfortune is amazing later on, but, as you mentioned, it's very difficult to keep up. The grace round after 8 is extremely helpful.
I can relate to this advice the most I think, since it's what I'm currently experiencing. I've used Evil Eye a couple times when Slumber has failed, but never really needed the Cackle. Our DM allows retraining 1 thing per level, so I'm getting rid of Eldritch Heritage (Fey) first thing when we hit lvl 4, for Accursed Hex or Extra Hex. Heritage seemed like fun, but I always have a better option, and my Witch has -1 to hit with it, so...I was probably too caught up in the flavor when I picked it. Never got to use it at all, and I doubt I will.
My Hex List prior to lvl 10 is Slumber, Flight, Prehensile Hair, Flight, Feral Speech. Maybe Evil Eye will stay. Misfortune is great, but the fact that it relies on Cackle throws me off. When I get two other disabler hexes at 10+ in Ice Tomb and Retribution, I expect at least one of them to work, and they all function for a respectable duration without needing Cackle.
I'm getting the psychopomp familiar, which is for flavor. It doesn't hurt that it's very good at surviving with at-will invis. I know there are debates about whether it can use wands or not, since it can use writing implements. I'm in the camp that it cannot, since it pretty much has some magical attunement to writing, rather than true hands.
Erato: It is nice to disable opponents before they can act of course, but sometimes that comes at the cost of moving up before your allies do, leaving you unprotected from the monsters that you did not disable. It can definitely go either way, but it doesn't feel that special to me. I like being useful out of combat as well of course, but I feel that I am already. Between the Oracle of Lore and me, we have social skills and knowledges well covered.
What evolution would you buy a familiar? They all seem mostly combat focused, the only ones to consider really are Skilled or a resistance to energy.
Fionna: Unless the fighter was really in trouble there, I would've held my DD for a more dire circumstance. I'd assume as a fighter he has a pretty good chance of breaking out of grapples. Or maybe I could slumber whatever is holding him :P
Flight is good for safety, but less so for following opponents to cackle. It's a shame to only move and cackle when my arcane power begs to be unleashed.
I might as well link my witch, we did 25 PB so I did take Cha 13.
http://www.dndsheets.net/view.php?id=24329
In that case, as far as Evolutions go:
Skilled: Perception - Perception is awesome.
Improved Natural Armor - Even with at will invisibility, keeping your familiar alive is important.
Skilled: Stealth - Alive is good, and hard to find helps.
In that case, as far as Evolutions go:
Skilled: Perception - Perception is awesome.
Improved Natural Armor - Even with at will invisibility, keeping your familiar alive is important.
Skilled: Stealth - Alive is good, and hard to find helps.
Perception is nice, though Psychopomps have Spiritsense which is pretty awesome already. I'm not too worried about my familiar being targeted, since I don't send him out into combat (except maybe to rush deliver a CLW). I've discussed it with the GM, and he told me that nearly any enemy is likely to prioritize actual threats in combat, ie the party members, rather than a little fox (-> Psychopomp).
I am fond of Skilled (Profession: Butler), but that's just showing off.
In that case I can't think of any Evolutions that'd be worth a feat. Unnatural Aura would be flavorful though.
Fionna: Unless the fighter was really in trouble there, I would've held my DD for a more dire circumstance. I'd assume as a fighter he has a pretty good chance of breaking out of grapples. Or maybe I could slumber whatever is holding him :P
Fight could break out of the grapple, but he'd spend his turn doing so. He'd then get re-grappled on the baddy's turn, rinse and repeat. Without the fighter fighting, the baddy will have a tough time going down.
I haven't had a chance to use this strategy myself, but another party member has, and he's a lot squishier than my witch (I took a 16 Con). Being able to spont cast as many Dimension Doors as I need will be really helpful. I'm in an undead-heavy campaign; not all baddies can be put to sleep, sadly. :(
If your familiar is important to you, maybe Evolved Familiar would be good to take? It lets you give your familiar a single 1-point evolution. Might be something there to add more flavour to your psychopomp?
In an undead heavy campaign I'd skip playing Witch, unless I wanted a necro-type Patron, because much of your shtick is mind-affecting. At least until you can get some Retribution going. The witch really is quite vulnerable to undead without an appropriate Patron for the job.
Threnodic Spell. Metamagic feat that lets you use mind-affecting spells against undead. One more level, and it's mine!
I picked up Misfortune (which isn't mind-affecting) and Fortune, and I use Cackle to keep 'em going. I actually went with the Healing patron (and hedge witch archetype). If the encounter has undead, I'm the heal-bot. If it doesn't, I use other spells and drop some Evil Eye. There's always something for my witch to do in a fight, unless it's really easy and not worth spending resources on.
I like the witch too much to let some undead ruin my fun!
Yeah, I'm aware of that metamagic, but it's much too expensive. Even on rods I'd avoid it.
I find playing healbot unrewarding. The witch is about control, which means stopping the enemy from even touching your allies. Glitterdust and Web are both great, and among the few options a witch has for stopping undead.
I did consider Misfortune for the fact that it's not mind-affecting, but I'd still rather pass. I figure that mind-affecting won't be much of a problem until lvl 10+, when there's Ice Tomb and Retribution to cover for that weakness.
I'm enjoying the witch, but I can enjoy other classes as well, if the campaign suggests (to me at least) that I should not be a witch.
I skipped out on Misfortune and Cackle on my Witch (currently level 6). Evil Eye and Slumber have been my big ones, but I also picked up Healing Hex and Flight for utility. Misfortune is amazing later on, but, as you mentioned, it's very difficult to keep up. The grace round after 8 is extremely helpful.I can relate to this advice the most I think, since it's what I'm currently experiencing. I've used Evil Eye a couple times when Slumber has failed, but never really needed the Cackle. Our DM allows retraining 1 thing per level, so I'm getting rid of Eldritch Heritage (Fey) first thing when we hit lvl 4, for Accursed Hex or Extra Hex. Heritage seemed like fun, but I always have a better option, and my Witch has -1 to hit with it, so...I was probably too caught up in the flavor when I picked it. Never got to use it at all, and I doubt I will.
My Hex List prior to lvl 10 is Slumber, Flight, Prehensile Hair, Flight, Feral Speech. Maybe Evil Eye will stay. Misfortune is great, but the fact that it relies on Cackle throws me off. When I get two other disabler hexes at 10+ in Ice Tomb and Retribution, I expect at least one of them to work, and they all function for a respectable duration without needing Cackle.
Evil Eye is one of the best Hexes in the game. Even if it stayed at -2, it would still be worth the action fairly consistently given that, as long as the target is not immune to Mind Affecting, it always works, if only for a round. Later on (like, really later on), you can combo it with Dire Prophecy for ridiculous numbers. Also, it's my tester for Slumber.
While I can certainly understand your disdain for healing (believe me, I was a WoW Priest for entirely too long), it has its utility and, as such, its place on the average Witch. I'm running with a shadow patron, so my undead combat routine is either healing or shooting a crossbow. Of the two, one of those allows the Oracle to do something useful, which is a far sight better than a 1 in 3 chance of dealing 1d8 damage. This will change markedly at level 8, but until then, I have to play the hand I've dealt myself.
I like having healing, because sometimes you really need it. It's good to have that clutch heal up your sleeve. But it's not a role that I enjoy.
I don't really like Evil Eye as a -2, but it seems more attractive at -4.
Extra Hex
Extra Hex
Extra Hex
Accursed Hex
Extra Hex
Extra Hex
Extra Hex
Extra Hex
Extra Hex
Extra Hex
It's hard to argue against this actually, as there are very few feats that equal the utility of a Hex. Though I'd take Improved Familiar at some point.
Though I'd take Improved Familiar at some point.
Question: What kind of familiar do you have in mind?
The outsider familiars are kind of nice... but might die pretty quickly once the opponents start heaping Alignment Blasts on you.
I enjoy the notion of playing a tiefling witch with a cacodaemon familiar, once per day it can steal the soul of a dead creature. You can either crush the gem to give you some fast healing or perhaps use it as a trading currency with evil outsiders. The dimensions patron from the field guide, gives access to all the planar binding spells + gate, making it a good fit.
In campaigns where the leadership feat is allowed I might see if the GM can agree to allowing a guardian daemon, which would be a very flavorful bodyguard.. I like the artwork on the one in the bestiary, possibly advancing it with barbarian levels.
If you can spare some for charisma you might be able to pick eldritch heritage, I would try convinve my GM to allow the demonic, infernal or similar bloodline as if the charisma was 2 points higher. The racial ability is paid for anyway might as well get some use out off it, I consider it a fair and flavorful stretch of the ability.
Probably not useful advice though..
Extra hexes are probably a good investment but taking too many similar use ones will most likely offer diminished returns in actual play.
Eldritch heritage is a nice chain if you can spare the charisma.
Improved initiative is always nice.
ability focus for a hex if the GM allows it for players (bestiary)
accursed hex
split hex
familiar evolution might be worthwhile to give ur familiar 5' extra reach
toughness, since you likely will be one of the squishier casters.
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Basically you're a Wizard with fluff. I'd recommend focusing on the fluff that others have suggested.
Hexes are all good fun and the more you have the better [although some of them are pants].
It's up to you whether you want to be a Buffer or De-buffer.
I recommend...
Spell Focus Enchantment and/or Necromancy
Greater Spell Focus Enchantment and/or Necromancy
Extra Hex [as many as you need]
Improved Initiative [either buff or de-buff before your targets have there turns]
Combat Casting [Hexes don't have particularly good ranges]
Skill Focus Use Magic Device
Spell Penetration
Greater Spell Penetration
Edit: Add Toughness as Remco says you are "one of the squishier casters"
Though I'd take Improved Familiar at some point.Question: What kind of familiar do you have in mind?
The outsider familiars are kind of nice... but might die pretty quickly once the opponents start heaping Alignment Blasts on you.
[shrugs] It's a matter of your characters alignment and personal preference really. I'm partial to Psudodragons, while others swear by Imps.
In general, those familiars that can use wands are seen as better, but YMMV.
Combat Casting [Hexes don't have particularly good ranges]
If a monster is close enough that I feel the need to cast defensively, that means it's also in Hex range. This makes Combat Casting a wasted feat, in my book.
It seems to me that metamagic feats are generally poor picks, since higher level spells tend to be superior to the lower level spells with a metamagic on it. And there are rods to do it.
Item creation feats need a campaign with the downtime to use them, and essentially you're just selling your feat slot for tasty discounts on a type of magic item. This doesn't seem too appealing either.
I find it odd that in the same breath, you dismiss Metamagic because you can just spend money to get the same effect, then say that all item creation feats do is save you some money on items.
????
Well, yeah. If you are willing to spend money to replace a feat, why wouldn't you be willing to spend a feat to save money? Or vice versa?
Responding in ascending order!
TwoWolves: Generally I don't have a problem going with normal loot progression in a game. I've had the fortune of DMs that give the party mostly usable loot, so often you don't really need to sell and buy as often. I find it balanced, and I see no reason to tamper with it.
Stuart: Some support for your choices? Like, what spells do you swear by in enchantment and necromancy? Serisan has addressed why Combat Casting isn't a good pick for a witch.
Steel: Winter is nice, but it doesn't give me the Time Patron.
Erato: I'm looking at Unnatural, and does that mean that wild animals (since no one is there to Handle Animal them) will never get closer to the familiar, as long as they sense it? That could actually be pretty cool.
General Question: So some people suggest Eldritch Heritage. Well, which is a good one? I qualify for the first feat of the chain, but I don't expect that I'll be able to get the next ones up, unless I get a +2 Cha Tome. And obviously my character won't have first priority for Cha tomes, the Oracle will.
I'd do this:
1 - Extra Hex
3 - Extra Hex
5 - Accursed Hex
7 - Spell Penetration
9 - Greater Spell Penetration
11 - Split Hex
1 & 3 - The reason I'd take Extra Hex twice is that Witches get 5 hexes, and I think there are 7 really good ones (Cackle, Evil Eye, Flight, Fortune, Healing, Misfortune, Slumber). Why not get them all?
5 - I'd take Accursed Hex next because sometimes, you really need to land that hex!
7 & 9 - Spell Penetration and Greater Spell Penetration come next because most Witch spells that target enemies are subject to spell resistance. Taking this sooner is a waste, since low-level enemies rarely have SR.
11 - Split Hex isn't available until you're level 10, and hitting two targets in a single turn is too good to put off any longer than you have to.
13+ - By the time you get to level 13, you should have a good idea what your campaign, group, and play style wants most. You may want more hexes, more major hexes, metamagic feats that work well with low level spells, a spell specialization of some kind, etc.
Improved Initiative is really handy. Being able to usually go first is nice when you are a spambot.
Improved Initiative is really handy. Being able to usually go first is nice when you are a spambot.
I can't lie. I have Imp Init. Unlike most Witch players, I've had the luxury/frustration of having 7+ players in every game I've played in, which means that I don't need to have the full Hex line-up (level 6 and I have neither Misfortune nor Cackle). The only person with a higher init mod is the Elf Kensai with Dervish Dance. I use the initiative to make some game-changing choices first round with my spells and/or move into superior position. With the Kensai always beating me on init (my lowly +9 vs. his +13 or so...I think it changes to +19 next level), I can count on having a high AC target in a position of screening for inbound monsters.
It's amazing how much power you can get out of little ol' Silent Image, by the by, even if it is a Concentration duration, if you go first in a combat.
I can't lie. I have Imp Init. Unlike most Witch players, I've had the luxury/frustration of having 7+ players in every game I've played in, which means that I don't need to have the full Hex line-up (level 6 and I have neither Misfortune nor Cackle)... I use the initiative to make some game-changing choices first round with my spells and/or move into superior position.
I haven't picked Cackle or Misfortune, either. High Five! I Evil Eye and feed people potions with my hair.
Is there a feat in Pathfinder or 3.5 that would allow a Witch to spontaneously cast Cure spells?
I know the Hedge Archetype grants it but I was looking to do it at 1st level.
Thanks for the help!
Is there a feat in Pathfinder or 3.5 that would allow a Witch to spontaneously cast Cure spells?
I know the Hedge Archetype grants it but I was looking to do it at 1st level.
Thanks for the help!
Nothing so far, but that ability has (thus far) been reserved as a class feature. I think it's going to stay that way. Just take Healing Hex at 1. It's actually better than the spont casting until you actually can get the Hedge Witch feature to kick in, as well as being in the same flavor in the first place.
Back at original topic:
I estimate the value of Extra Hex to generally be 5 spell slots. Some are worth more, some are worth less. Ward, for example, is situationally worth more due to the fact that you can re-up it whenever you want, but also worth less insofar as it can easily be overrun by a simple gear upgrade. Scar Hex is worth a variable amount based on how many defensive Hexes you have, as its primary functioning is as a supercrazy Reach Metamagic for your defensive Hexes. Misfortune and Fortune are my baselines of 5 (the number of uses I expect in a day. Evil Eye is something along the lines of 8. Slumber is about the same (I have been known to find it appropriate to use on my party in social situations).
Just played a session. A lot of RP stuff, towards the end, an encounter with two tigers against our party of 4 lvl3 characters. My familiar sniffed out the tiger's ambush, so the Alchemist quaffs his mutagen and Enlarge Person, while I toss Enlarge onto the Fighter. We advance carefully, and I've got slumber at my fingertips. The tigers win init, and pounce. One of them crits the fighter, but otherwise they have bad luck and it's the only hit they get. One of them gets two 1s (the DM is using some manner of critical fumbles), and trips itself. My slumber goes off after their attempted mauling. One tiger down. The other tiger stands, taking AoO hits from the front-liners. He bats at the Fighter, getting some damage in. I hit the Tiger with slumber. The meleers CdG, and combat is over. This might sound "too easy" to some, but I had fun. I think the party enjoyed it too.
We left off after traveling some more and spotting a group of raptors, with more than just two members. So my hexing won't be quite as effective here.
But yeah, Slumber. I might want to get Misfortune I guess, so I can be annoying via hexes in every fight. If I get Misfortune though, I feel like Evil Eye should go. I don't know that I'd need both.
Point blank & precise shot, basics but you've got enough rays available as a Witch that they might be worth it.
Also some of your best debuff spells are touch range, so getting the Reach spell metamagic feat seems worth it.
Nearly every spell caster will eventually want Spell Penetration & greater Spell Penetration.
Combat casting you will only regret NOT having it when you really need it.
In an undead heavy campaign I'd skip playing Witch, unless I wanted a necro-type Patron, because much of your shtick is mind-affecting. At least until you can get some Retribution going. The witch really is quite vulnerable to undead without an appropriate Patron for the job.
I beg to differ..my Healing Witch is doing ok in the Carrion Crown...and having looked at the feats available to her..Extra hex is definitely the path to travel most of the time..you can rack up a fair armoury of at will abilities that way.
Uh, what rays? What touch range debuffs? I'd appreciate it if you went further into justifying your picks.
I think the only rays I'll care about are Ray of Exhaustion and Disintegrate (much later via Time Patron), but I'm eager to know if there are other good rays for the witch out there. Rays tend to be accurate enough though, I'm not gonna try to shoot some really agile enemy with 'em.
Edit:
Wellard: I haven't looked at it, but I've heard that Carrion Crown doesn't actually have all that much in the undead department. And if your role is dedicated healer, I think you're wasting the witch's talents. A cleric or life oracle would outdo a witch for that task.
Nothing so far, but that ability has (thus far) been reserved as a class feature. I think it's going to stay that way. Just take Healing Hex at 1. It's actually better than the spont casting until you actually can get the Hedge Witch feature to kick in, as well as being in the same flavor in the first place.
Thanks Serisan!