To some, the witch is a hero; to others, a villain. Starting at 2nd level, and every two levels thereafter, a witch’s familiar adds new bonus spells to … Regardless of your patron, you have access to the full spectrum of hexes, including powerful at-will debuff and save-or-lose effects. Miracle: It's a great spell, no denying it, and Endurance isn't a bad patron as such, but I don't recommend choosing Endurance solely for miracle if the rest of the list's defensive-buffing style doesn't suit your needs. You can do any of these things for the cost of some scrolls. Portents seems like it should be a good utility patron, but it's not: almost everything it offers is already on the witch list at the same spell level. Some patrons are multifaceted, granting different themes and teaching different lessons to different witches. This guide is divided into three parts. Shadow could be considered a minion patron, but summoning via shadow conjuration will tend to be inferior to the summon monster line every witch has access to. Source Advanced Player's Guide pg. Agility has fellow all-star haste on its list, but Transformation is better suited to the type of self-buffing melee hybrid who benefits most from getting shapechange to begin with. Bonethrall (Su): Even if you need to create the undead yourself, an extra hit die of controlled undead per level is great. Generally feared and misunderstood, the witch draws her magic from a pact made with an otherworldly power. Mountain Beast Empathy (Ex): Very situational, and it depends on Charisma, which is a dump stat for Witches. Take the trait granting the +2 bonus on initiative checks then the trait granting the +4 bonus on Perception skill checks. Source PRG2:APG. Witch Patron in Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. Trickery is more purely focused on conventional illusions, while Deception combines them with a variety of utility spells; of the two, I personally prefer Deception, but you won't feel as "illusionist"-y until higher levels with it. Your body appears dead as far as anyone can tell. The Mountain Witch essentially takes the Shaman's Stone Spirit and uses it to partially replace the Witch's Patron. Lastly, Water... initially I was planning to make the character a Sea Witch as you may recall, and when I decided against that archetype the Water patron seemed like a foregone conclusion. (Original Concept by Big Lemon) Primary Class: Witch. Her fingernails are overlong and sharpened, and she carries a wooden staff with strange trinkets tied to it. Each patron is listed by its theme. Pick something weird just to mess with your GM. Empathic Healing (Su): Very situational. Of the ones you listed, ancestors and time are the best ones. Even shadow walk has the use of getting through teleportation blockers. This patron is a vague and mysterious force, granting the witch power for reasons that she might not entirely understand. Whether casting a battlefield control spell, a spell that buffs your allies, or a spell that debuffs your foes, casting that spell first is vitally important to you and your party's survival. Without Elements, you still have Lightning Bolt, Ice Storm, Volcanic Storm, Ice Spears, and more awesome touch spells than I care to list right now (look into combining them with Spectral Hand or the Prehensile Hair hex especially). Unfortunately, the Stone Spirit options gained are poor. You may shift back to your Spell Poppet as a standard action, which ends the ability. How about summoning a dolphin to get you out of a bad situation?). I has often been mentioned as being one of the (if not THE) best patron due to Shadow Conjuration and Evocation. From my play experience, hexes are good enough that Paizo could have easily justified making the class into a 6th level caster. Some of them, including this one, are even terrible while you're in/on/around/under water. Spells are looked at in the context of the witch class specifically. My opinion is that it's a patron list with no bad spells. (one with barbarian levels and possibly DD, the other sticking to archaeologist doing rogue-y stuff and possibly PrC-ing into Deepwater Pirate)Could you perhaps provide a bit more insight on how you put the Deception spells to good use? Enhanced Familiar (Su): Wow. That said, Wisdom's buff/protection repertoire seems practical if unexciting. Death has some high-level save-or-dies but little else to recommend it, and they're not a huge improvement over the regular witch options. Shadow does it a little differently, focusing on the shadow conjuration and shadow evocation spell lines. There is no mechanical benefit to that, like making your cackle actually emanate from somewhere else, but it's useful if you needed to throw a bit of misdirection at your enemies. In the case of offlist spells that appear at different levels on different lists, the priority order for determining a spell's "normal level" is wizard > cleric > druid > other. If you want to be a dedicated healer, you should be a hedge witch... and it's not too late to say that you are one, since you haven't gained your 4th or 8th level hexes yet (which are what you trade away). I am interested in hearing what other people think about the subject.Spells which are not normally present on the witch list are marked as (offlist). The existing witch guides recommend a build and playstyle that is "patron-agnostic" - that is, a witch of any patron can use it effectively. As such, you can cast only one spell with the hex trait each turn; attempts to cast a second hex spell on the same turn fail and the spellcasting actions are lost. Spirits gives you a lineup of spells for dealing with ghosts and the ethereal plane, while Water gives you a lineup for dealing with aquatic environments; either could be a strong utility option in an appropriate campaign. If you would like help with Pathfinder player options not covered here, please email me and I am happy to provide additional assistance. Features Replaced: Hex (2nd), Patron Spells, Valid Archetypes: Beast-Bonded, Gravewalker, Hedge Witch. The spells gained depend upon the patron chosen. It's sort of hard to compare them. Any of the three is a solid choice. This spell must be at … Orc (Advanced Race Guide pg. The ones I like are (witch patron list for ease of use):Ancestors, Deception, Time, Water, Wisdom.Unsure about: Elements, Healing.Other suggestions are welcome as well if supported with good arguments though (I have heard lots of people like Shadow for its vast versatility) even though it won't necessarily help me pick one single patron to stick to. Deception and wisdom have some okay spells, but their buff spells are almost all single target, which isn't really that great. But honestly, with our big group I'm fine with that and just want to avoid "buyer's remorse" after grabbing any one patron to stick it out with. This patron is a vague and mysterious force, granting the witch power for reasons that she might not entirely understand. But there is zero overlap with the witch spell list unless I'm mistaken and we ended up not having an artillery sorcerer as I initially expected. ... make it a life quest to obtain one. ;). Haste is great but we have two bards who will definitely pick it. Why would you take on someone's afflictions when you can cure them just as easily? Haste: The lower-level spell that tends to come up a lot talking about witch patrons. Welcome to our Pathfinder Witch Class Guide! Picking a blaster patron doesn't mean you have to play as a blaster; rather, it means you have the option available. This might change later but right now that doesn't seem right for my character concept somehow. Spell Poppet: The flavor of this ability is fantastic, but losing the normal utility of a familiar is disappointing. Shadow is only sort of a blasting school, but since it provides the shadow evocation line it's more or less offering blasts by default, albeit at a level surcharge and with an extra save. The Healing patron provides a lot of spells to remove status effects, but very little actual healing. Its actual name is up to the GM and the witch to decide. Your minion's conciousness (or whatever serves as "conciousness") is transferred into your Spell Poppet.If your Spell Poppet is destroyed, the effect ends. Kind of like an 80s Volvo, unexciting but reliable.I'm not too fond of Commune actually and would rather see it replaced with another thematic spell - but the same is true for pretty much every single patron in one regard or other. Twin Soul (Su): I would strongly consider killing my character intentionally just to be able to run around inside my pet cat or whatever. For example, while hideous laughter is a great spell for a wizard or sorcerer, a witch has access to the Slumber hex and hold person as a second-level spell, so it is only a marginal improvement over her otherwise available options. The Best Way to Drive your GM Crazy. as their patron but couldn't choose fire or summer. I intend to go debuff/lockdown as my main role and help with buffing and battlefield control while providing general utility out of combat. Source Advanced Player's Guide pg. This list was assembled by a fairly blunt methodology: I went through each patron's list and reviewed each spell, then put together my thoughts about the patron as a whole and stuck it at the top of the patron's entry as an overview. Trapped Under Ice-Geddy2112's Guide to the Pathfinder Winter Witch Hi Playground, I have been building a Winter Witch, but in building one I have noticed a lack of a guide online. The existing witch guides recommend a build and playstyle that is "patron-agnostic" - that is, a witch of any patron can use it effectively. The Witch is already very dependent on its familiar, and the Beast-Bonded archetype takes this dependency one step further. Because this archetype is dependent on having multiple undead minions, it can cause issues in a normal party. I'm not going to pass judgment on the playstyles themselves; I trust you to know whether you want to play a blaster or not. If I went after patrons with the least overlap with the standard witch spell list above all else, Elements would come out as the winner I think. If your party lacks a healer, this is a great option. Its actual name is up to the GM and the witch to decide. This does not allow the familiar to cast these spells or use spell-trigger or spell completion magic items. Can't quite put a finger on why. Animal has a lot of spells aimed at helping you deal with animals, which I suppose could be useful if animals give you a lot of trouble. But instead, we just sort of do that out the gate since patrons would be a bigger role over the kind of witch you play. Trapped Under Ice: Geddy2112’s guide to the Pathfinder Winter Witch This guide will cover the Winter Witch Archetype for Pathfinder witches. Water might have benefits for your specific adventure, but I'd look into other methods to getting the same main benefits. If Hecate is your patron, you could leave her offerings at the cross roads, or start learning the Tarot in Her honour. Plague is almost wholly focused on building and controlling an undead army, and it does it well enough, but anyone considering Plague should give serious consideration to the Gravewalker archetype instead. Available Patron Themes: Agility, Enchantment, Trickery, Winter; 2nd—disguise self, … Out of the three, I like Deception best, with a variety of handy utilities across the levels. Select on undead minion within your aura of despair: Your mind transfers into the body of your minion. First off, a patron does not define your playstyle. this nice overview that looks at each patron spell-by-spell. Consult your GM and your party before introducing mobs of skeletons to the party. First off, a patron does not define your playstyle. ... As guides for Pathfinder 2nd Edition get written, they will be stored here. Here's how it works, step by step: Features Replaced: Familiar, Hex (1st, 4th, 8th), Valid Archetypes: Hex Channeler, Mountain Witch. Patron’s Breadth Feat 8. So I made a witch character styled as a Mwangi vodou bokor for the Skull & Shackles AP we just started. If you want to channel energy, Clerics and Paladins both do it considerably better than the Hex Channeler. Time is what I almost used. I support a limited subset of Pathfinder's rules content. Patron: Why do you even get to pick a patron? Know Direction (Sp): Situational and needlessly restrictive. The abilities aren't particularly great, but you can improve them slightly by taking Improved Familiar and picking a suitably cool familiar. (mainly being super-squishy and having abominable AC). First time pathfinder starting a homebrew campaign in February and would love to hear what the community has enjoyed about playing a Witch. I'm focused on using hexes over spells and except for Accursed Hex and later Split Hex pretty much all my feats will go towards Extra Hex to let me get all the useful ones.What I want most out of my patron is to provide me with worthwhile spells I don't normally have access to and that either help me fill my designated role and/or help me mitigate my weaknesses as much as possible. Aura of Desecration (Su): The channel boost doesn't matter much, but the increased range for your Deliver Touch Spells ability is exellent. Warning though: huge Wall of Text incoming: About This Guide:The existing guides for witches are pretty good, but I found the sections examining the patrons a little light. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. At 1st level, when a witch gains her familiar, she must also select a patron. Giving it some feats won't change that. Secondary Class: Gunslinger. You cast spells. Ancestors is about as good at mid levels (perhaps slightly disadvantaged depending on how you view haste vs. blessing of fervor) and superior at low levels. Deliver Touch Spells (Su): This makes melee touch attacks considerably safer to use. Your patron's theme determines the following. I know you said witch but... Have you looked at an Oracle with the Juju mystery? Valid Archetypes: Hex Channeler, Mountain Witch, Sea Witch. My concern is whether the patron does well at that playstyle. I don't really care about making zombies and commanding undead but rather focus on curses (for enemies), boons (for friendlies), swarms, that kind of thing. Ask your GM if he can swap out that spell for a deception-y 4th level spell (of his choice) that isn't on the Witch spell list. Edit: one thing I forgot to mention was that I don't expect the campaign to last beyond level 15 or so, and thus nifty "capstone" spells like Miracle or Time Stop won't mean much to me in practice. Channel Energy (Su): You only have to give up the Hex you gain at 2nd level, but if you want more channel damage, you have to keep giving up Hexes. Yeah, I don't know really. Welcome to our Pathfinder Witch Class Guide! Form of the dragon is great, but at about the same time Transformation offers that, Strength is offering giant shape anyway. Alright, I'm adding Shadow back to the shortlist. There is also the feat Witch Knife for patron spells. But blaster is so outside the role I'm going for... sigh. Feiya - Iconic Witch A lithe young woman with stark white hair stares provocatively at you, silently daring you to advance and either provoke or caress her. A witch must commune with her familiar each day to prepare her spells. Alignment: Any. Cookies help us deliver our Services. While these forces need not be named, they typically hold influence over one of the following forces. Thing is, this witch is my first full caster character and I find I'm having my plate full as it is, trying to find what spells are useful for what situation. and found this nice overview that looks at each patron spell-by-spell. By combining the Hedge Witch and the Healing patron, you can nearly match the healing abilities of the Cleric. I would like to greatly thank Streamofthesky and The Viking Irishman for their guides, which can be found here and here respectively. Ancestors has a good list of low level buff spells, while time has the excellent haste, and better high level spells. This guide is divided into three parts. By combining the Hedge Witch and the Healing patron, you can nearly match the healing abilities of the Cleric. where my mind-affecting tactics are useless. ... sigh benefits for your specific adventure, but Archetypes can offer some additional options Hex. Poppet as a spellcaster as easily can pick from called hexes Channeler, witch... 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