Witch advice, Crafter?

[JohnStone]

I am trying to build a witch for an upcoming campaign. she is Neutral leaning toward chaotic/good.
She is an elf with a terrible past, a hybrid jungle/dark elfi have DARKVISION/DAZZLE. enjoying her freedom on the plains of Absolom.

thanks to the gods of RNG my party consists of myself ELF/WITCH:
NAGAJI/SHAMAN: He wears a hat of disguise to protect his identity. He is a Healer/Sage (LORE). not the primary healer but maybe.
GILLMEN/WIZARD: Seems a bit new, I am hoping to point him toward glass cannon and the wizard spells we dont have.
AASIMAR/WILDER: best we can do for a "tank" some charismatic scoundrel, reminds me of a chaotic paladin.

I figured my best bet would be to play to the needs of a SCOUT i have survival and stealth as class skills (again RNG). however i dont want to ignore my witch. so i am hoping to be that helpful little elf (the only female) that has whatever is needed in her backpack. or handy haversack.
from what i understand witches are good at this sort of thing.

SCRIBE SCROLL to craft scrolls and act as a translator between familiars and spellbook.

CRAFT WOUNDROUS ITEMS: I am not sure how this works but all the guides say take this to make "single use" items and beyond
(PLEASE elaborate on how this works i havent been able to find anything)((my guess is i can turn a stick into a potion?))

well if you have read this far:(My major decisions)
Patron: id like spells to either help myself SHADOW,DECEPTION,or help the party HEALING, ANCESTORS. keep in mind i want to craft spells
Hexes:
SLUMBER (my favorite)
FORTUNE/MISFORTUNE/EVIL EYE/CACKLE: this line eats up alot of feats/hexes
FLIGHT: I will have this by lvl 5 but id like it now
HEALING: doubt ill need it but maybe

[Arbane]

I like the Healing hex as it's one free CLW per party member per day, but a lot of guides will just say to get a CLW wand and save the hex for something else. Other than that, your hex choices seem solid.

Craft Wondrous Item lets you make ANYTHING in the 'Wondrous Item' list (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items), with a good enough Spellcraft roll and the right supplies. (If you don't have a prerequisite spell, it raises the Spellcraft DC by 5, which is not unbeatable.) So, almost any magic item that's not a weapon, armor, shield, staff, wand, rod, or potion... which is still a LOT of them.

Single use wondrous items would be things like feather tokens, elixirs, dusts, etc.

Witches are not the best scouts, since invisibility isn't on their main spell-list. Deception's good for that.

[JohnStone]

That explains the "CRAFT WONDEROUS ITEMS" Thank you...Ill think about it later... ...thankyou again for the link

DEBUFF: i got alot of casters, EVIL EYE seems the winner with CACKLE
OR FORTUNE/MISFORTUNE?

or grab FLIGHT EARLY it is my job ater all to get places...

[Arbane]

That explains the "CRAFT WONDEROUS ITEMS" Thank you...Ill think about it later... ...thankyou again for the link

DEBUFF: i got alot of casters, EVIL EYE seems the winner with CACKLE
OR FORTUNE/MISFORTUNE?

or grab FLIGHT EARLY it is my job ater all to get places...

The downside of Evil Eye is that it's Mind-Affecting, so it's useless against undead, vermin and similar problems. (BTW, if your GM throws a lot of undead at you, consider picking up Threnodic Spell, as witches have very few spells that work against undead normally.) Fortune is a great buff for your allies, and Misfortune is a good Save or Suck, especially at low levels. (If the GM is fool enough to have fumble houserules, misfortune becomes even BETTER.)

Flight's great, but it can probably wait 'til level 5, unless you spend a lot of time climbing cliffs or dealing with pit-traps. (At-will Feather Fall is a lot of fun!)

[Geddy2112]

Agree with Arbane on everything.

Your first hex should be slumber, then you can go into fortune/cackle/misfortune/evil eye tree, and pick up flight before or at level 6. Water lung and tongues are also worth considering depending on your campaign setting.

If you are into crafting, why not look into brewing potions? You can take the cauldron hex which gives you the brew potion feat and a +4 to alchemy checks, which is pretty solid. Potions are not as good as scrolls obviously, but your grippli wizard will have the ability to scribe scrolls. It also unlocks the hex "Cook people" and if your party is cool with that kind of thing, load up on humanoid treats before the big boss fight. I guess cooking people into stat buffing cookies is a form of crafting...

[Kurald Galain]

The downside of Fortune is that it affects only one roll, whereas Misfortune affects all rolls for a round (and of course it can be cackled).

I've found that the effect of Misfortune is much stronger than that of Evil Eye, even aside from the fact that numerous monsters are simply immune to mind-affecting abilities.

[Arbane]

I've found that the effect of Misfortune is much stronger than that of Evil Eye, even aside from the fact that numerous monsters are simply immune to mind-affecting abilities.

I did the math once - Misfortune's "roll twice, keep worst" lowers the average of a roll by about 4 points, IIRC. (And it makes critical hits vastly less likely. Conversely, if someone in your party is a crit-fisher, they will LOVE Fortune during big battles.)

I've sen a few good guides to optimizing witches - here's two of them: Hubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1avH5AFYaZ838OC_W7BY_Bnt1TH9KGCc2ygTOb0CiYu0/edit?hl=en_US) and The Viking Irishman’s Guide to Witches (https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1SZl8EKYeB_NAmb_wdhIs4MN2D8pya_Y-v4Hs-ZB_M3s). They haven't been updated in a white, but they should be a good start.

[Kurald Galain]

I did the math once - Misfortune's "roll twice, keep worst" lowers the average of a roll by about 4 points, IIRC.

Yes. Also, unlike evil eye, Misfortune applies to attacks and saves and skill checks.

[Mithril Leaf]

The downside of course being that misfortune requires them to fail a will save to do anything.

[Arbane]

Yes. Also, unlike evil eye, Misfortune applies to attacks and saves and skill checks.

You can use Evil Eye repeatedly on the same target to debuff them at multiple things - but it does use your action each turn. Good way to nerf a boss-monster, though.


The downside of course being that misfortune requires them to fail a will save to do anything.

There is that. High-Will enemies are a pain for Witches, though Accursed Hex can help. And most of the ways to lower an opponent's Will save... require them to fail a Will save. :smallannoyed: Though an ally who can cause Shaken or Sickened can be a big help.

Evil Eye is guaranteed to get at least one turn of effect on anything it can affect, Cackle can extend that, and it doesn't have the "once per day per target" limitation most Hexes have. Both are fun.

[Kurald Galain]

You can use Evil Eye repeatedly on the same target to debuff them at multiple things - but it does use your action each turn.
Yes. Here's the thing, though. I've found that witches who have Evil Eye tend to focus their strategy on just using Evil Eye each turn... but you're still a full caster, and there are enough spells on your list that are simply better than your hexes (well, other than Slumber, of course). Evil Eye is only a -2, after all, and by the time it gets to a -4 you've got 4th and soon 5th level spells online.


There is that. High-Will enemies are a pain for Witches, though Accursed Hex can help.
For instance, you could just cast Web or Lipstich or Stricken Heart, allowing you to target reflex or fort or touch AC.

Overall, I find witches are most effective if they use hexes as a backup option instead of as their default strategy for every round.

[Barstro]

Yes. Here's the thing, though. I've found that witches who have Evil Eye tend to focus their strategy on just using Evil Eye each turn...
Then they are one-trick ponies who deserve mindless creatures being thrown at them.:smalltongue:

Having played a Witch, I provide and/or second the following observations;
Sleep is powerful, but boring. As a save or die (effectively) it either ends fights very quickly or wastes a turn. I had the most fun with it outside of combat.
Flight Hex is not worth much before level 5 and there are better hexes to take at lower levels anyway.
Flight Hex still takes a standard action to activate. The Witch basically wastes the first round of combat to activate it.
You get Overland Flight at 11 (is that the correct level?) anyway. While there are benefits to having both, you might have a better use for a hex.

If you have a cohesive party, using Evil Eye; Attacks or Evil Eye; AC makes for a drawn out and fun battle where even the weakest character gets to feel safe and attack enemies.

Towards the upper levels, I found the Witch to be too powerful to be fun in combat when using the best powers. Evil Eye; Saving Throws (-4), Misfortune (roll twice), Ice Tomb, could take out just about anything. If I didn't feel like doing that, I could just Magic Jar the strongest person and STILL use hexes, cast spells (eschew materials), attack physically, or just have them take a dive into a pit while I possessed someone else. I found it more enjoyable to use Evil Eye and Misfortune on two enemies a round or else cast spells.