So i've been playing pathfinder for a few sessions and we're about to start a second game, this time I'm looking to play witch but I haven't seen them in action so hoping for some tips on build/playstyle.
I'm very interested in the "shutdown" witch in this guide and i've also read rolling on the floor cackling and the viking irishmans guide
I'm playing a chaotic neutral halfling with a mischievous leprechaun type theme, boosting luck on allies and raining bad luck on enemies, with the ability to mess with the general populace for giggles
Build so far: (stats aren't concrete, i still have to roll them for the GM)
Str 10, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 19, Wis 14, Cha 12
Base Atk +3; CMB +2; CMD 13
Feats Ability Focus (misfortune), Accursed Hex UM, Malicious Eye
Traits bruising intellect (int instead of cha for intimidate), highlander (makes stealth class skill) shiftless (alt racial trait makes sleight of hand class skill) halfling jinx (alt racial -1 to target saves at will)
Skills Bluff +3, Fly +7, Heal +6, Intimidate +13, Knowledge (arcana) +12, Knowledge (nature) +13, Knowledge (planes) +12, Perception +4, Ride +6, Sleight of Hand +7, Spellcraft +12, Stealth +15 (+17 in hilly or rocky areas), Use Magic Device +5; Racial Modifiers +2 Bluff, +2 Perception, +2 Sleight of Hand,
Abilities
Accursed Hex Target a creature with a hex a second time that day if it made its save the first time
Cackle (Su) As a move action, extend the duration of other hexes by 1 rd.
Deliver Touch Spells Through Familiar (Su) Your familiar can deliver touch spells for you.
Empathic Link with Familiar (Su) You have an empathic link with your Arcane Familiar.
Evil Eye -2 (7 rounds, DC 17) (Su) Foe in 30 ft takes penalty to your choice of AC, attacks, saves, ability or skill checks (Will part).
Familiar Bonus: +3 to Appraise checks You gain the Alertness feat while your familiar is within arm's reach.
Fearless +2 racial bonus vs Fear saves.
Halfling Jinx (DC 11) (Su) Able to curse others with bad luck
Malicious Eye Add jinx effects to successful evil eye use
Misfortune (1 round, DC 19) (Su) Foe in 30 ft must take the lower of 2d20 for rolls (Will neg).
Share Spells with Familiar Can cast spells with a target of "You" on the familiar with a range of touch.
Slumber (6 rounds, DC 17) (Su) Foe in 30 ft falls asleep for duration, or until damaged or roused by ally
Speak with Familiar (Ex) You can communicate verbally with your familiar
I went halfling because the halfling jinx ability allows me to add halfling jinx (-1 to all saves) to evil eye
Depending on particular combat i will either share around misfortunes or slumbers on regular goons, cackling to keep it going, or if there is a big bad evil guy pile on the negatives with evil eye, intimidate, misfortune and any spells which weaken them for my team-mates to finish him off. I'm going to try and use mounts to allow me to move around the battlefield while cackling.
I have a raven familiar at the moment, but next level i intend to take improved familiar and get a faerie dragon (can use wands etc, casts as a 3rd level sorc)
I took the trickery domain and haven't taken much in the way of offensive spells and have tried to vary the save types of spells to better match each enemy. Good knowledge skills give me the ability to learn their weaknesses. Spells like alter self will allow me to pass myself off as a sweet innocent little child.
Lvl1 Beguiling gift, cause fear, charm person, ear-piercing scream, ill omen, mage armor, mount, sow thought, unseen servant, ventriloquism, web bolt
lvl2 Alter self, blindness/deafness, detect thoughts, enthrall, hold person, invisibility, vomit swarm, web
lvl3 Blink, sleet storm, stinking cloud, suggestion
Can anyone spot and glaring weaknesses or failures in my build, or have suggestions to improve?
You look like you're pretty much on the money, don't forget about the bestow curse spell (the most versatile spell the witch has simply because it states you can invent new curses) which is a VERY good debuff and hex vulnerability spell for the BBEG
hope this helps
I must have missed bestow curse as being level 3, i thought it was 4, good catch!
Hex vulnerability is a spell i didn't know about, but definitely a good one that i could give to my faerie dragon on a wand to use with UMD (along with ill omen)
Thanks for the tips
Hex Vulnerability is going to be a waste of a spell slot/standard action. Accursed Hex + Evil Eye + Misfortune will completely cover that angle.
Looking at your spell selection, you have several redundant, mind-affecting, Will-targeting spells that won't hold a candle to Slumber Hex anyways. Examples include Beguiling Gift, Cause Fear, and Hold Person. Grease and Glitterdust are two particularly solid spells that you're missing out on. I also like False Life for a little bit of insurance. Fly and Dispel Magic are very useful 3rd-level utility spells.
Going UMD on the familiar is strong, but makes them into a very viable target for your enemies. Personally, I wouldn't want to risk my living spellbook.
Depending on how your campaign is run, Craft Wondrous Items is the single best feat in the game.
Torchlyte wrote: Hex Vulnerability is going to be a waste of a spell slot/standard action. Accursed Hex + Evil Eye + Misfortune will completely cover that angle.
Looking at your spell selection, you have several redundant, mind-affecting, Will-targeting spells that won't hold a candle to Slumber Hex anyways. Examples include Beguiling Gift, Cause Fear, and Hold Person. Grease and Glitterdust are two particularly solid spells that you're missing out on. I also like False Life for a little bit of insurance. Fly and Dispel Magic are very useful 3rd-level utility spells.
Going UMD on the familiar is strong, but makes them into a very viable target for your enemies. Personally, I wouldn't want to risk my living spellbook.
Depending on how your campaign is run, Craft Wondrous Items is the single best feat in the game.
Beguiling gift is awesome
Vs intelligent opponents, who immediately awaken sleeping allies, or even vs sleep immune creatures, you need to have alternatives.
A beguiling gift and giving the opponent a pair of locking manackles can shut him out of the entire fight.
shroudb wrote:
Vs intelligent opponents, who immediately awaken sleeping allies, or even vs sleep immune creatures, you need to have alternatives.
A beguiling gift and giving the opponent a pair of locking manackles can shut him out of the entire fight.
If your opponents are waking each other up then your melee allies are going to have a field day. Not only are you winning in action economy (particularly if you managed to pick a target who would've gone next, before their allies), but awakened enemies will also find themselves prone.
Unless you're fighting an army of evil elves, most things that are immune to sleep are also immune to other mind-affecting effects.
Why bother with low-level (low DC) save-or-lose will saves when you have ones that will level up with you? Better to spend those slots and spells known on alternative defenses/utility.
Because as you said if they wake each other, it is only 1stamdard they lose, vs effectively dying (manackled)
Being prone is a drawback, but a LOT of creatures bypass it (p.e. all fliers)
Also, bequiling gift has ooc uses.
Also there are creatures apart from elves/halfelves/drow that are immune to sleep. All the dragons and some aberrations for start
shroudb wrote: Because as you said if they wake each other, it is only 1stamdard they lose, vs effectively dying (manackled)
Being prone is a drawback, but a LOT of creatures bypass it (p.e. all fliers)
Also, bequiling gift has ooc uses.
Two standards and two AOO's, to a minimum of one standard if you chose your target poorly.
Fliers don't care about being tripped while flying but I assure you that being prone on the ground is just as big a problem for them as anyone else.
What can I accomplish with Beguiling Gift that I couldn't with Charm Person?
More accurately, the action cost/benefit depends on the battlefield. If your opponents are clumped and you can't get a Coup de Grace down, Slumber is certainly not as all-powerful. However, those are the times when I'd rather use grease anyways.
One aoo. Waking someone doesn't provoke.
Also if ranged they can simply lose just an iterative to wake them up
shroudb wrote: One aoo. Waking someone doesn't provoke.
Also if ranged they can simply lose just an iterative to wake them up
Additional AOO's are very possible if your opponents are not clumped, such that they'd have to use a move action to get to their ally. It kind of seems like you're assuming that the next person to act after the Witch is an opponent, which is not necessarily the case.
Prone and melee status/cover make ranged attacks into a possible tactic, not a sure bet. If you're facing iteratives, a level 1 spell's save DC is getting rather low.
He is lvl6. So his opponents can easily have iteratives, or be young dragons and etc
I always assume the worst possible scenario ^^
It is a spell that you have 1/day, and it's for that one really bad moment.
Most of your time you will be spamming slumber.
aza9999 wrote: Hex vulnerability is a spell i didn't know about, but definitely a good one that i could give to my faerie dragon on a wand to use with UMD (along with ill omen) Unless your faerie dragon has hexes of its own, the wand does nothing for anyone. Also, a wand has a Will DC of 11, and SR:yes, and lasts a single round. Much better on a staff.
/cevah
*Arrives in a puff of smoke.*
Someone mention my guide?
Looks good to me. Thumbs up.
Hex vulnerability is a good spell for your ally friendly hexes. As written once cast on an ally, note he can just chose to fail the save, then you can literally spam a hex on them like the healing hex. In fact this spell makes witches the best healers hands down.
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