Abd al-Azrad
2014-11-16, 11:26 AM
Howdy all,
Been working for a while on a high-level Witch build, figured I'd share what I've got and look for help to fill in the holes.
Without further ado!
We've recently reached Level 17, so that's where I'm aiming to build.
Basics: Elf Winter Witch 7 / Winter Witch (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/s-z/winter-witch) (PrC) 10. Witch Patron: Deception.
Feats (9): Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summoning, Improved Initiative, Improved Familiar (Imp), Heighten / Persistent / Dazing / Quicken Spell, Spell Perfection.
Hexes: Slumber, Flight, Evil Eye, Cackle
Major Hexes: Hoarfrost, Ice Tomb, Numbing Chill
Right now, the party is all damage. We have a Myrmidarch Magus focusing on DPR (mostly with electricity), a Scroll-Specialist Wizard focusing on DPR (mostly with empowered fireballs), and a War Oracle BSF / "Arm." My role is largely "Anvil," doing what I can to mess up the enemy and prevent them from killing our glass cannon while they surgically destroy enemy targets.
We fight, fight, fight some more. This game is mostly hack-and-slash, with the DM specializing in unpredictable and complex encounters pushing us to our tactical limits. By this level, most foes have a number of immunities, generally high saves, and a wide range of nasty attacks. As such, my goal with this build is to reliably shut down foes, bypassing the largest range of special defenses possible, and create kill shot opportunities for my party.
The Old Man Winter, at this point in his career, primarily relies on area Save-or-Lose attacks in his higher-level spell slots, supplemented with lower-level Battlefield Control to disrupt enemies. His hexes offer a nice set of options for simple fights against vulnerable foes: Slumber against those vulnerable (i.e. not immune), Ice Tomb for low-Fort enemies, Flight for versatility - but a number of his Major Hexes are built into the Winter Witch PrC and offer limited options. For the most part, he turns to spells to win fights. Ideally, he should flit in and out of combat like a ghost, devastating foes whenever he appears, then slipping back into a blinding blizzard.
Dazing Spell plays a major role in Old Man Winter's battle contributions. The Winter Witch PrC adds +1 to his Cold spell save DCs and, more importantly, allows him to bypass elemental immunity. As such, nothing is immune to his Dazing attacks - a major point since, as noted above, lots of immunities are coming into play at this point in the game.
Dazing Persistent Chill Touch: A double-threat, a lasting touch-attack spell with the highest DC I have available, forces a reroll on the save, and most importantly can shut down undead if they fail any of 4 Will saves. Dazing Persistent (DP for short) Whip of Spiders offers a similar threat, at longer and safer range, but is less effective against undead.
Persistent Glitterdust and Persistent Confusion: Area Will Save-or-Lose attacks for when we fight foes who are susceptible to these tactics.
Icy Prison: 5th-level Single-Target Reflex Save-or-Lose. Wall of Ice is a weaker, 3rd-level variant that doubles as simple BC.
Dazing Ice Storm: Area Will Save-or-Lose, bypasses Cold immunity, creates difficult terrain for BC. Can add a Staggered effect and 1d4 Dex damage to one target on a failed Fort save, with Numbing Chill, to make this a triple-threat.
Persistent Magic Jar: Lots of Will Save-or-Lose effects. This is just an old favourite of mine, I couldn't pass up.
Sleet Storm: Another old favourite. Due to the Winter Witch PrC, I can see effortlessly through this spell's vision-blocking effects, allowing me to trap foes inside and continue hammering them with single-target attacks, or fly in and deliver a flat-footed touch spell.
Quickened Ill Omen: When I need a spell to land. Using this on one of my Persistent attacks forces - to my understanding - three saving throws, when any failure means doom.
Invisibility: Kept on a wand, my Familiar basically spams this on me to keep me safe. Not a perfect defense but a solid one against a number of foes.
Wave Shield: Basic defenses for when something sneaks past our defenses and tags me.
Summons: BC, utility, fill in the gaps in my spell slots, and they always work when I can't otherwise land a hit.
So, with all that out of the way, here are some of my questions.
1) Suggestions to fill in the gaps? I don't have much by way of area Reflex save-or-lose. I suppose I could pick up a Heightened Persistent Stinking Cloud for area Fort save-or-lose, but that doesn't really come up much, what with all the creatures for which Fortitude is either a strong save, or those which are immune to Fort saves, poison, or breathing. My defenses aren't great - once something can Fly, tactically chase me down via Teleportation, and See Invis, I'm basically a bag of tasty meat. And that describes almost every Outsider, all of which have loads of immunities, great saves, etc.
2) Dumb question, but what should I select for my Spell Perfection? There are just too many options. Summon Monster 5 would allow me to add a pack of doubly-augmented Dire Wolves, or an Ankylosaur / Bearded Devil, as a Swift action. Ill Omen would always come in handy as a Swift action 1/round, and I almost always want to be hiding in a Sleet Storm due to its area, and the fact that the Winter Witch PrC is one of the few creatures that can see within it. Any of my higher-level attacks could stand to be Quickened, although few benefit from Spell Focus. Do any of the above Primary Spellcasting Tactics stand out as needing to be Perfected? Should I even be using Spell Perfection?
Thanks a lot for your help. Feel free to add other commentary or poke me full of holes as you see fit. I'm focusing heavily on weird uses of metamagic, rather than Witch hexes, which feels kind of strange given I'm playing a Witch. And there are loads of other tricks I simply haven't had much experience with, re: minionmancy, evasion, etc.
Been working for a while on a high-level Witch build, figured I'd share what I've got and look for help to fill in the holes.
Without further ado!
We've recently reached Level 17, so that's where I'm aiming to build.
Basics: Elf Winter Witch 7 / Winter Witch (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/s-z/winter-witch) (PrC) 10. Witch Patron: Deception.
Feats (9): Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summoning, Improved Initiative, Improved Familiar (Imp), Heighten / Persistent / Dazing / Quicken Spell, Spell Perfection.
Hexes: Slumber, Flight, Evil Eye, Cackle
Major Hexes: Hoarfrost, Ice Tomb, Numbing Chill
Right now, the party is all damage. We have a Myrmidarch Magus focusing on DPR (mostly with electricity), a Scroll-Specialist Wizard focusing on DPR (mostly with empowered fireballs), and a War Oracle BSF / "Arm." My role is largely "Anvil," doing what I can to mess up the enemy and prevent them from killing our glass cannon while they surgically destroy enemy targets.
We fight, fight, fight some more. This game is mostly hack-and-slash, with the DM specializing in unpredictable and complex encounters pushing us to our tactical limits. By this level, most foes have a number of immunities, generally high saves, and a wide range of nasty attacks. As such, my goal with this build is to reliably shut down foes, bypassing the largest range of special defenses possible, and create kill shot opportunities for my party.
The Old Man Winter, at this point in his career, primarily relies on area Save-or-Lose attacks in his higher-level spell slots, supplemented with lower-level Battlefield Control to disrupt enemies. His hexes offer a nice set of options for simple fights against vulnerable foes: Slumber against those vulnerable (i.e. not immune), Ice Tomb for low-Fort enemies, Flight for versatility - but a number of his Major Hexes are built into the Winter Witch PrC and offer limited options. For the most part, he turns to spells to win fights. Ideally, he should flit in and out of combat like a ghost, devastating foes whenever he appears, then slipping back into a blinding blizzard.
Dazing Spell plays a major role in Old Man Winter's battle contributions. The Winter Witch PrC adds +1 to his Cold spell save DCs and, more importantly, allows him to bypass elemental immunity. As such, nothing is immune to his Dazing attacks - a major point since, as noted above, lots of immunities are coming into play at this point in the game.
Dazing Persistent Chill Touch: A double-threat, a lasting touch-attack spell with the highest DC I have available, forces a reroll on the save, and most importantly can shut down undead if they fail any of 4 Will saves. Dazing Persistent (DP for short) Whip of Spiders offers a similar threat, at longer and safer range, but is less effective against undead.
Persistent Glitterdust and Persistent Confusion: Area Will Save-or-Lose attacks for when we fight foes who are susceptible to these tactics.
Icy Prison: 5th-level Single-Target Reflex Save-or-Lose. Wall of Ice is a weaker, 3rd-level variant that doubles as simple BC.
Dazing Ice Storm: Area Will Save-or-Lose, bypasses Cold immunity, creates difficult terrain for BC. Can add a Staggered effect and 1d4 Dex damage to one target on a failed Fort save, with Numbing Chill, to make this a triple-threat.
Persistent Magic Jar: Lots of Will Save-or-Lose effects. This is just an old favourite of mine, I couldn't pass up.
Sleet Storm: Another old favourite. Due to the Winter Witch PrC, I can see effortlessly through this spell's vision-blocking effects, allowing me to trap foes inside and continue hammering them with single-target attacks, or fly in and deliver a flat-footed touch spell.
Quickened Ill Omen: When I need a spell to land. Using this on one of my Persistent attacks forces - to my understanding - three saving throws, when any failure means doom.
Invisibility: Kept on a wand, my Familiar basically spams this on me to keep me safe. Not a perfect defense but a solid one against a number of foes.
Wave Shield: Basic defenses for when something sneaks past our defenses and tags me.
Summons: BC, utility, fill in the gaps in my spell slots, and they always work when I can't otherwise land a hit.
So, with all that out of the way, here are some of my questions.
1) Suggestions to fill in the gaps? I don't have much by way of area Reflex save-or-lose. I suppose I could pick up a Heightened Persistent Stinking Cloud for area Fort save-or-lose, but that doesn't really come up much, what with all the creatures for which Fortitude is either a strong save, or those which are immune to Fort saves, poison, or breathing. My defenses aren't great - once something can Fly, tactically chase me down via Teleportation, and See Invis, I'm basically a bag of tasty meat. And that describes almost every Outsider, all of which have loads of immunities, great saves, etc.
2) Dumb question, but what should I select for my Spell Perfection? There are just too many options. Summon Monster 5 would allow me to add a pack of doubly-augmented Dire Wolves, or an Ankylosaur / Bearded Devil, as a Swift action. Ill Omen would always come in handy as a Swift action 1/round, and I almost always want to be hiding in a Sleet Storm due to its area, and the fact that the Winter Witch PrC is one of the few creatures that can see within it. Any of my higher-level attacks could stand to be Quickened, although few benefit from Spell Focus. Do any of the above Primary Spellcasting Tactics stand out as needing to be Perfected? Should I even be using Spell Perfection?
Thanks a lot for your help. Feel free to add other commentary or poke me full of holes as you see fit. I'm focusing heavily on weird uses of metamagic, rather than Witch hexes, which feels kind of strange given I'm playing a Witch. And there are loads of other tricks I simply haven't had much experience with, re: minionmancy, evasion, etc.