Opinions about the Witch Invoker archetype

[Soul Devourer]

I came across the Witch Invoker archetype and was wondering what is the opinion on it, seeing as it is barely discussed in the forums. You lose pretty much, but the benefits seem to me not bad.

Also, which builds could benefit from this archetype? If we exclude a blasting witch who could benefit from Reckoning, I think the standard powers to use in combat should be Curiosity and Bridge. As Curiosity affects only Patron spells DCs, maybe a good choice for a generalist witch could be the Shadow Patron, in order to diversify her spell list.

Thanks in advance for your replies!

[Kurald Galain]

It's a very good archetype, primarily because the witch learns way more hexes than there are good choices on the hex list. So trading a few of them for a swift-action boost like this is good.

Also, don't underestimate reckoning for pulling out Lightning Bolt (or Fireball with the elements patron). You can even dip a level in crossblooded sorcerer to add to that.

[avr]

The shadow patron is always going to be good for a generalist witch, as is trickery. Shadow might benefit more from this archetype but both would like it, as would any witch focusing on debuffs - bridge would be better than curiosity once spell resistance becomes involved.

I suspect the strength patron witch going into eldritch knight which Badbird kept bringing up last week would like this archetype too.

The only witches who would clearly not like it are those focusing on healing, or undead, or buffing and protection spells. These are a clear minority IMO.

[Louise Bishop]

Extremely power bloodline and helps to make a really effective Cold damage witch.

Invoker+Winter witch 5/Crossblooded Sorcerer Orc&Dragon (cold)/Winter Witch PrC. Gives you +3 damage per die rolled on all cold spells and bypasses some resistance and deals half damage to creatures with immunity to cold. You can get +4 damage per dice rolled with cone of cold if you buy some cheap Alchemy Focus.

I usually take the Occult Patron with that combo and have answers to undead.

[Xexyz]

Louise Bishop wrote:

You can get +4 damage per dice rolled with cone of cold if you buy some cheap Alchemy Focus.

What focus is this?

[PhD. Okkam]

Slumber hex and Curiosity іt is also very good

[QuidEst]

It's really good. Basically a straight boost to Witch, with only a slow start to worry about. Flavor is nice for anyone who wants a stronger patron tie. However, it's not terribly interesting (just number boosts), so it doesn't get talked about as much.

[Louise Bishop]

Xexyz wrote:

Louise Bishop wrote:

You can get +4 damage per dice rolled with cone of cold if you buy some cheap Alchemy Focus.

What focus is this?

Well it is not a Focus for Cone of Cold but it is a material component. To be used while casting the spell.

It is called Liquid Ice.

It can boost several spells:
Resist Energy, Ray of Frost, Cone of Cold, Protection from Energy, Gentle Repose.

But for 40gp per casting of Cone of Cold to get that sweet extra +1 damage per dice rolled is nice. 15d6+60 is nothing to sneeze at when no meta magics are involved.

[Xexyz]

Louise Bishop wrote:

Xexyz wrote:

Louise Bishop wrote:

You can get +4 damage per dice rolled with cone of cold if you buy some cheap Alchemy Focus.

What focus is this?

Well it is not a Focus for Cone of Cold but it is a material component. To be used while casting the spell.

It is called Liquid Ice.

It can boost several spells:
Resist Energy, Ray of Frost, Cone of Cold, Protection from Energy, Gentle Repose.

But for 40gp per casting of Cone of Cold to get that sweet extra +1 damage per dice rolled is nice. 15d6+60 is nothing to sneeze at when no meta magics are involved.

Nice. What's the source of this? I recall Liquid Ice in Ultimate Equipment but don't recall it being able to be used as an extra material component.

[Soul Devourer]

Thank you very much for all your feedback and ideas!! :)

I like the flavor of the Witch and am considering playing again one of them as a PC in the future, after a short game where I had a 6-th level Slumber-heavy one. I don't mind its spell list, especially the necromancy and divination stuff. I have considered some other cool archetypes like the Cartomancer and the Bouda. Cartomancer can be even be stacked with Invoker, though I see no obvious sinergy and you really start to lose too many hexes if you combine the two.

My main concern with the witch is action economy: Hexes are great and I like debuffs, but I was considering Arcanist as well and it has more effective spell-casting mechanics (including Potent Magic) and a superior spell list.