Wizard or Witch


Advice


I've been told by many wizards are superior. I've been told wizards are Gods. I've been told they are the most powerful class in the game. So with 4 days left until our campaign begins I'm wondering do I wizard or witch? I know now exactly if I were to witch how I would build him thanks to many of you for your input on that by the way. I love the fact that witches can deal with high save enemies with Evil Eye to lower those saves. How does a wizard deal with that issue? It appears they get the same number of spells per day however the wizard spell selection is far more versatile.


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They deal with high saves, with spell focus, heighten spell, persistent spell, using knowledge to target weak saves, or simply not targeting saves at all, plenty of spells don't. They will also typically build to spell perfection to have a double bonus on Spell focus and spell pen on that spell.

I'm not an expert in wizards but I don't think their best trick is actually really high DCs. (could be wrong)

Arcanists (Arcane Reservoir, potent magic and eventually magical supremacy) and Sorcerers depending on their bloodline (fey) actually have an easier time getting high DCs.

The reason wizards are god tier is because their spell list is the best spell list and they get the closest to unfettered access to it. They also get some pretty broke school powers, the Divination one and the teleportation subschool one in particular. There are also some nasty archetypes which frankly shouldn't exist in my opinion. Like the pact wizard which make them stronger still.

If you want to single out and SoS one guy in particular a Witch is honestly better for the job that a wizard and given the time and thought you've put into your witch (I've seen the threads) I'd stick witch. Its not like they're not powerful after all. XD.


I suspect it will depend on what level range the campaign runs over. Most of a Witch's Hexes are unlimited use per day abilities, which can come in very handy if your GM is throwing multiple encounters at you per day at low levels. Wizards are very powerful at higher levels, especially as they have a much more varied spell list, but at low levels it's easy to run out of spells for the day quickly.

Grand Lodge

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These conversations are like asking would you like a million dollars or a million and one dollars one is more but you unlikely to notice a real difference.

As a witch you can still do a lot of the high level world bending like clone, and creating demiplane. You do lack wish or miracle but at this level it's not a huge deal the game is broken by spells.

Honestly all 9th level casters are awesome. And most have everything they need to be great on their spell list.

Aoe control - 3 saves
Single target save or suck - 3 saves
Some good defensive magic
Some party buffs/Utility spells
Transportation (teleport/plane shift)
Heal/remove/restoration

Once these areas are converted or mostly covered by a caster or pair of casters then the rest of the spell list is gravy.


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Atalius wrote:
I've been told by many wizards are superior. I've been told wizards are Gods. I've been told they are the most powerful class in the game. So with 4 days left until our campaign begins I'm wondering do I wizard or witch? I know now exactly if I were to witch how I would build him thanks to many of you for your input on that by the way. I love the fact that witches can deal with high save enemies with Evil Eye to lower those saves. How does a wizard deal with that issue? It appears they get the same number of spells per day however the wizard spell selection is far more versatile.

You do not have the system mastery to play a Wizard like a pro.

But a wizard in the right hands is one of the most powerful classes in the game. But it is one of the hardest classes to pilot in the early game due to limited resources and low defenses. But come level 10 a Wizard quickly becomes one of the strongest classes. At level 10 I soloed a duo boss fight in Rise of the Runelords with a Dazing acid arrow and a Magic Jar.

Spoiler:
I dazed the Dragon the moment it showed up, so my team mates could thin the giant herd. I then took over the dragon Longtooth with Magic Jar and forced it to fight the Main BBEG leading the attack on the town. Killed the giant and offered the dragon's neck to the parties Barbarian after the Giants ran off. I would have animated things if I lost the dragon to the giant boss but it did not come to that. DM got mad he did not even dent the city or get to use the dragon so he killed off my wizard with DM fiat for making encounters too easy for a as written AP.

Your still a beginner and I think the witch is perfect for you cause you get Unlimited Hex use to fall back on. You also get to experience playing a prepared caster and get to start experimenting with spells to see what works and what doesn't. Prepared casters do take some system mastery and good game play to pilot well.

You will be able to pilot the witch class better because it is more user-friendly in its abilities. While it still is super powerful and a top tier class in its own right.


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What other casters are in the party is a pretty important question. The witch spell list has huge holes in it, if the player needs to fill either of the traditional 4 man party roles (Divine: Plain witches are weaker HP healers than clerics, no channel, and are very limited in condition restoration, They also have no access to breath of life type effects. Arcane: Blasting and area effects are exceedingly limited, and you are missing a bunch of support spells - eg haste..)

That having been said, a Witch can play quite well, and may be easier to play than a wizard due to hexes providing unlimited use. The single biggest challenge to playing a wizard is resource conservation - Should I use my spell X in this situation? What spells do I memorize in my spells slots. Those assessments are very hard questions, especially if your DM drives the adventure pacing to your disadvantage. A witch can keep going all day on hexes.

I would go with the witch for endurance and style points...


Most people find that you can get buy with a wand of CLW, I have in the passed, so the hp role is filled if you ask me.
Witches do SoS better than most wizards will and thats one of the routes a wizard will traditionally follow. Their both bad at blasting unless very specifically built and I'm pretty sure that @Louise Bishop has a nice Witch build for if you want to do it.
As for battlefield control

LV1: Obscuring mist, Shadow Trap, Summon monster (goes for every level) and web bolt.
LV2: Aggressive thundercloud, Euphoric cloud, Fog Cloud, Tremor blast and web
LV3: Air Geyser, Ash Storm, Ice Spears, Sleet Storm and thorny entanglement
LV4: Black Tentacles, Ice Storm, Solid fog, Volcanic Storm and Web cloud.

That isn't even all the ones from each level and the list goes on, I'm pretty sure they are fine on that point. Haste and other goodies can be grabbed by domains. I actually think Atalius might be taking the time mystery too, so haste.

Witches can't do everything wizards can do, but they can get by as the resident arcane, in my opinion at least.


wizard hands down


well if entirely depends on what you want to do for strait up blasting, battle field control or list of spells i would say wizard but if debuffing is your thing witch is defiantly the way to go imo


Louise Bishop wrote:

Your still a beginner and I think the witch is perfect for you cause you get Unlimited Hex use to fall back on. You also get to experience playing a prepared caster and get to start experimenting with spells to see what works and what doesn't. Prepared casters do take some system mastery and good game play to pilot well.

You will be able to pilot the witch class better because it is more user-friendly in its abilities. While it still is super powerful and a top tier class in its own right.

I second this great piece of advice, having had the experience of playing a Witch as my first Pathfinder character and a Wizard as the second. If you really look for more spells from the Sorcerer/Wizard spell list than those you have in your own list and Patron, invest in UMD and/or play a Wayang and get one more every level!


I would argue both are very powerful, probably with so little difference that you couldn't tell them apart in that regard. Witch wins out in staying power with her hexes. Meanwhile wizard can do anything a witch can do + more, albeit in lesser quantities than witch. Wizards have more general use abilities and a wider variety of spells. Chromatic dragon is absolutely right in that wizards are the worst at overcoming high saves however they are also the best a working around them. For deciding between the two for a character I just go though both spell lists and come up with a sample spells known. Witchever I like more I go with


Thanks all, ya it seems like Witch is the way to go. The last wizard we had in our group during my last campaign which lasted a few sessions was next to useless until level 5. I would like to get into debuffs to setup SoS spells and also have some battlefield control spells at my disposal. It seems like the Witch has more than enough. One thing I really like about the Witch is there ability to lower enemy saves to set up those SoS spells.


pad300 wrote:

What other casters are in the party is a pretty important question. The witch spell list has huge holes in it, if the player needs to fill either of the traditional 4 man party roles (Divine: Plain witches are weaker HP healers than clerics, no channel, and are very limited in condition restoration, They also have no access to breath of life type effects. Arcane: Blasting and area effects are exceedingly limited, and you are missing a bunch of support spells - eg haste..)

That having been said, a Witch can play quite well, and may be easier to play than a wizard due to hexes providing unlimited use. The single biggest challenge to playing a wizard is resource conservation - Should I use my spell X in this situation? What spells do I memorize in my spells slots. Those assessments are very hard questions, especially if your DM drives the adventure pacing to your disadvantage. A witch can keep going all day on hexes.

I would go with the witch for endurance and style points...

We don't have any other pure casters in the party. We have a fighter, a paladin, an alchemist and myself a Witch.


Chromantic Durgon <3 wrote:

They deal with high saves, with spell focus, heighten spell, persistent spell, using knowledge to target weak saves, or simply not targeting saves at all, plenty of spells don't. They will also typically build to spell perfection to have a double bonus on Spell focus and spell pen on that spell.

I'm not an expert in wizards but I don't think their best trick is actually really high DCs. (could be wrong)

Arcanists (Arcane Reservoir, potent magic and eventually magical supremacy) and Sorcerers depending on their bloodline (fey) actually have an easier time getting high DCs.

The reason wizards are god tier is because their spell list is the best spell list and they get the closest to unfettered access to it. They also get some pretty broke school powers, the Divination one and the teleportation subschool one in particular. There are also some nasty archetypes which frankly shouldn't exist in my opinion. Like the pact wizard which make them stronger still.

If you want to single out and SoS one guy in particular a Witch is honestly better for the job that a wizard and given the time and thought you've put into your witch (I've seen the threads) I'd stick witch. Its not like they're not powerful after all. XD.

Ur right, going to stick with the Witch, SoS will be fun as an Invoker :) It should be easier to land those than a wizard I think.

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