High level witch

[Abd al-Azrad]

Howdy playground!

I've been recently invited to reprieve an old character in a Pathfinder game, of which I've missed a few years' worth of sessions. I had been playing a fairly classic BC/Debuffer Witch, relying on Fortune and Scar for party buffing, Slumber for single-target SOL attacks, and some of my old favourite spells for BC (Sleet Storm, the Fogs, I had just learned Confusion). It's a build I'm quite comfortable playing, it fits well into our party dynamic. Things are good.

Except I've been asked to level the character from 8th to 15th. This is honestly a daunting task for me, because I've not played a high level caster in literally a decade and, even back then, I had no idea how to field such power on the battlefield. I haven't cast a 5th-level spell since the switch to 3.5. I'm not really sure what role to fill at this point.

Most of the high-level Witch spells seem to be single-target SOL (I've got hexes for that), backup healing, or wacky plot powers (weather control, fast travel, divinations, making little demiplanes). I've got summons, which I can field pretty effectively, but I don't even know if there are good metamagic options for my lower-level BC.

I know I could manage to use this odd mix of spells as displays of raw arcane power. But I'm more interested in finesse, subtle tactics that make a fight unwinnable for the enemies. That's really why I imagine the Witch is feared in stories - no one understands their precise methods, but earning their ire means inexorable doom.

Anyone have any good experiences playing a high-level Witch? Thoughts regarding synergies between these powers, or areas on which I should focus?

TL; DR: "Oh poor me, I have to play a high-level Tier One and I don't know how to make it awesome enough, please help."

[Psyren]

Witch Handbook (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=480.0), focus on the higher level spells.

The role you will fill is largely the same - debuffer and battlefield control. Buffing is at best a secondary role for witches - barring Mass/Communal stuff, you don't really have the spells/day for it, and your hexes aren't much help in this regard either (Fortune for instance is generally 1 fight/day.) Summoning is also secondary and blasting/healing are tertiary.

The most vital data points you've left out of the OP are (a) what everyone else is doing (what classes and roles are already filled) and (b) what kind of campaign is it (undead-heavy? social? dragon-heavy? plane-hopping? etc.)

[Dalebert]

I'll share a tip I heard about picking spells. Even though witches have a limited spell list, they can hold their own in fights pretty well with hexes. So it was suggested that witches can save a fair chunk of slots for what utility spells they have. I'm planning to have Secure Shelter prepared just about all the time once I hit 7th.

I agree that it's frustrating how so many spells are SOL when we already have hexes that are usually as good or better at SOL and don't use up our spell slots. But we do have a few cool spells at most levels. Also, beef up your UMD so if there's something you really want, you can at least get a wand of it or something.

[Psyren]

Hexes tend to be better at single-target SoL. So for spells you can lean towards the area stuff - Glitterdust, Sleet Storm, Stinking Cloud, Black Tentacles, Cloudkill, Confusion etc, Also utility stuff - Mage Armor, False Life, Teleport, DM/GDM, True Seeing, Mind Blank, Plane Shift, Heal and Summon Monster 4+.

And definitely don't forget about their wealth of no-save-just-lose spells. Ray of Exhaustion, Enervation, Maze, Solid Fog and Waves of Fatigue/Exhaustion etc.