The Witch

The Witch is up there amongst my favorite classes in Pathfinder and as such, it was very difficult for me to restrain myself to only give five builds as I have many more build ideas for it. Nevertheless, I chose five of them and now I am presenting them to you for your viewing pleasure. I hope you enjoy!

A Note on Spells

Witches start the game with knowing all cantrips and 3+Int 1st level spells and add 2 new spell known each level, and each even level(2, 4, 6…)they gain an additional spell known from their Patron. However, like a Wizard, they can learn additional spells from scrolls/spellbooks and store them in their familiars. The spells I list for each build are the Patron spells and the spells I find appropriate to learn each level, but do note that more can be added later. As we know all Cantrips, I will not enumerate them each time.

The Base Witch

This is an example of a classic Witch build, how you would expect the class to function and how well and powerful it can get.

Race

Human, and throw that floating +2 into Intelligence.

Ability Scores

15Point-Buy

Str 7/Dex 11/Con 14/Int 20/Wis 10/Cha 7 Round up dex then everything in Intelligence.

20Point-Buy

Str 7/Dex 12/Con 14/Int 20/Wis 10/Cha 10 Put everything in Intelligence

25Point-Buy

Str 7/Dex 14/Con 15/Int 20/Wis 10/Cha 10

Round up your Constitution then everything in Intelligence.

Traits

Reactionary will help us get our Hexes and Spells in faster, Magical Lineage dedicated to the

Ill Omen spell, meaning that for Ill Omen, metamagic increases level of spell by one less.

Favored Class Bonus

Hit Points. We have d6 hit points, we’ll need those.

Skills

Spellcraft, Fly once you get a flying method, Use Magic Devices, various Knowledges

Familiar

Take a Raven at first, then switch to an Imp

Feats by Level

1-Extra Hex

Human Bonus-Improved Initiative

3-Toughness

5-Bouncing Spell

7-Quickened Spell

9-Accursed Hex

11-Split Hex

13-Improved Familiar

15-Extend Spell

17-Tenebrous Spell

19-Split Major Hex

We are starving for Hexes and thus Extra Hex comes in handy at first level. We want to have our Hexes affecting their target asap so Improved Initiative from the get go helps with that, and Toughness helps with our survivability. Bouncing Spell is a great metamagic that allows us to bounce a spell that failed to affect a target to another target. Quickened Spell is huge, but now combine it with Ill Omen and Magical Lineage and you can pretty much guarantee to shut down a target the second it’s your turn. Massive. Accursed Hex let our hexes be used multiple times on resisting targets, Split Hex and Split Major Hex let our single target hexes target two targets which doubles their efficiency. Improved Familiar gives us a superior familiar which is just great.

Hexes by Level

1-Slumber

Extra Hex-Evil Eye

2-Cackle

4-Misfortune

6-Flight

8-Swine

10-Agony

12-Animal Skin

14-Restless Slumber

16-Withering

18-Eternal Slumber

20-Dire Prophecy

Slumber is one of the strongest abilities in the game. It’s like the sleep spell, but with no HD cap. Evil Eye gives a -2 to either Attack, AC, Saving Throws, Ability Checks or Skill Checks for a minimum of 1 round which is huge. Cackle however let us prolong this each turn as a move action. Misfortune force rerolls and taking the worse results. Flight is self-explanatory and Swine gives a penalty on will saves and removes fingers from targets which makes most npcs suddenly completely incapable in combat. Agony and Dire Prophecy are massive debuffs, Restless Slumber and Eternal Slumber are more powerful versions of Slumber(Somehow). Animal Skin let us turn into animals and Withering ages target with no saving throw. This is debilitatingly good. It also gives us buffs for a few hours.

Spells

We will be taking the Fate Patron.
1-Bungle, Cause Fear, Charm Person, Command, Cure Light Wounds, Ill Omen, Itching
Curse, Ray of Sickening
2-Doom, Shadow Trap, Obscuring Mist
3-Death Candle, Hold Person
4-Anticipate Peril, Raven’s Flight, See Invisibility
5-Bestow Curse, Marionnette Possession
6-Helping Hand, Pocketful of Vipers, Thorny Entanglement
7-Black Spot, Charm Monster
8-Blessing of Fervor, Conditional Curse, Scrying
9-Baleful Polymorph, Magic Jar
10-Greater Forbid Action, Hostile Juxtaposition, Hold Monster
11-Animate Objects, Eyebite
12-Contingency, Teleport, Banshee Blast
13-Heal, Mass Hold Person
14-Jolting Portent, Greater Teleport, Shadow Body
15-Death Clutch, Mind Blank
16-Maze, Trap the Soul, Greater Prying Eyes
17-Dominate Monster, Mass Suffocation
18-Wish, Massacre, Communal Mind Blank
19-Astral Projection, Storm of Vengeance
20-Fey Form IV, Mass Hold Monster

Equipment

A Component Pouch, everything else is just extra gravy.

Final Thoughts on the Build

Witches are the single best debuff class in the entire game, between their hexes and debuff/battlefield control centered spell list. You can end battles with a single well placed spell/hex, and turn lethal encounters into a walk in the park for your party, all the while sporting a large spell list that can answer many troubling situations.

The Graveyard Witch

Witches have a large list of debuffs, usually from the Enchantment and Necromancy Schools. What if we wanted our Witch to animate undeads too?

We will be taking the Gravewalker and the Hex Channeler Archetypes, along with the Agent of the Grave Prestige Class.

Our leveling should look like the following:

Witch 7/Agent of the Grave 5/Witch +8

Race

We will go for an Elf with the Fleet-Footed Alternative Racial Feature.

Ability Scores

15Point-Buy

Str 8/Dex 10/Con 10/Int 20/Wis 10/Cha 10 Put everything into Intelligence

20Point-Buy

Str 8/Dex 10/Con 10/Int 20/Wis 10/Cha 14 Put Everything into Intelligence

25Point-Buy

Str 8/Dex 12/Con 12/Int 20/Wis 10/Cha 14 Everything into Intelligence once again.

Traits

Warrior of Old for a +2 on Initiative, and Silent Hunter for Stealth as a Class Skill.

Favored Class Bonus

We need more HP as our Hit Die is only a D6 and our Constitution could be much better.

Skills

Spellcraft, Stealth, Use Magic Devices, we need both Knowledge(Arcana and Religion), Fly when you unlock a flying method. Perception, even though it is not a class skill, is still extremely useful to put points into, and since our Charisma isn’t half bad, Bluff and Intimidate become quite valid investment options.

Feats by Level

1-Improved Initiative

Fleet-Footed Elf

Bonus-Run

3-Control Undead

5-Toughness

7-Extra Hex

9-Extra Hex

11-Extra Hex

13-Extra Hex

15-Extra Hex

17-Extra Hex

19-Craft Wondrous Items

So, since we can Channel Energy, we qualify for Channel Energy Feats. Including Control Undead. And as we are making a Necromancer, this feat is pretty much mandatory. As we are taking a Prestige Class and the fact that we exchange several of our Hexes for other features, Extra Hex help us keeping up on that front.

Hexes by Level

1-Replaced by Gravewalker’s Aura of Desecration

2-Replaced by Hex Channeler’s Channel Energy

4-Replaced by Gravewalker’s Bonethrall

6-Slumber

Extra Hex

7-Blight Extra Hex

9-Deathcall Extra Hex

11-Seduction

13-Replaced by Gravewalker’s Possess Undead

Extra Hex 13-Cackle

15-Animal Skin

Extra Hex 15-Withering

17-Infected Wound Extra Hex

17-Agony

19-Retribution

We get an aura of Desecration, the ability to Channel Negative Energy to heal undeads, the ability to Magic Jar Undeads in our aura which is situationally extremely strong. With abilities revolving around death in general, like the ability to rapidly age targets and making stabilizing tougher to roll, we are well on our way to be one of the strongest necromancer builds out there.

Agent of the Grave

This Prestige Class is specifically designed around Necromancy. With Inspired Necromancy, we get to control up to 100 HD of undead, and with Undead Manipulator we get to affect undeads with Mind-Affecting Spells. By lvl 12 we heal as if undead by negative energy, and finally we learn additional Necromancy Spells which is huge.

Spells

We will be taking the Plant Patron. Our Patron list will be modified due to Gravewalker.
1-Blend, Ill Omen, Cause Fear, Chill Touch, Dancing Lantern, Grasping Corpse, Inflict Light
Wounds, Mage Armor
2-Entangle, Ray of Sickening, Touch of Blindness
3-Blindness/Deafness, Boneshaker
4-Command Undead, Death Knell, Inflict Moderate Wounds
5-Aura of Cannibalism, Bestow Curse
6-Animate Undead, Deathwine, Fly
7-Enervation, Inflict Serious Wounds
8-N/A
9-Shadow Step, They Know
10-Ghoul Army, Hungry Earth
11-Inflict Critical Wounds, Magic Jar
12-Dust Form, Eyebite
13-Flesh to Stone, Mass Inflict Light Wounds
14-Harm, Mass Hunger for Flesh
15-Shadow Body, Greater Teleport
16-Clone, Curse of Night
17-Create Undead, Destruction, Death Clutch
18-Mass Suffocation, Soul Bind
19-Control Undead, Astral Projection, Power Word Kill
20-Cursed Earth, Maze of Madness and Suffering

Equipment

Component Pouch, a shovel for intimidation factor.

Final Thoughts on the Build

The witch was not originally meant to be an undead rising class. And yet with this combination of Archetypes and Prestige Class, we end up with a top tier Necromancer build easily as capable as a dedicated Cleric or Wizard necromancer. Truly a build to be reckoned with. We also get 6 additional necromancy spells of any level that I leave to your discretion from Agent of the Grave for additional goodies.

The Winter Witch

Eyy doge, I heard you like Winter Witches, so I made a Witch with the Winter Witch Archetype and the Winter Witch Prestige Class so you can have some Winter Witching with your Winter Witch.

Levelling is as follow:

Class

Witch 5/Winter Witch 10/Witch +5

Race

We will take Changeling, as they are thematically appropriate for Witches to begin with considering they are half hags. We will be taking the Alternative Racial Feature Witchborn to switch our bonus in Wisdom to a bonus in Intelligence. As for our Ancestry trait, we will take the Ice Climber as we will be descending from a Winter Hag for thematic reasons.

Ability Scores

15Point-Buy

Str 8/Dex 10/Con 12/Int 20/Wis 10/Cha 10 Put everything in Intelligence

20Point-Buy

Str 8/Dex 10/Con 14/Int 20/Wis 10/Cha 12 Put everything in Intelligence

25Point-Buy

Str 8/Dex 14/Con 14/Int 20/Wis 10/Cha 12 Once again, everything in Intelligence

Traits

Reactionary for a +2 to Initiative and Cosmopolitan for making Linguistics into a class skill

Favored Class Bonus

Put those in skills.

Skills

Spellcraft, Linguistics, Use Magic Devices and various knowledge skills. Perception is also always nice to have.

Familiar

Take the Arctic Fox for a small bonus on Reflex saves. Also, highly thematic.

Feats by Level

1-Toughness

3-Skill Focus(Linguistics) 5-Orator

7-Agonizing Hex

9-Improved Initiative 11-Split Hex

13-Empower Spell 15-Maximize Spell 17-Quicken Spell 19-Split Major Hex

Orator lets us use Linguistics for social rolls, Agonizing Hex lets us reuse hexes on targets who had previously escaped them, Split Hex lets us double the efficiency of our single target hexes. As the Winter Witch is one of the few methods to bypass damage type immunity, Empower Spell and Maximize Spell on our cold typed spells are extremely worth it, and Quicken Spell doubles our spellcasting output in a given round.

Hexes by Level

Slumber

Frozen Caress

4-Replaced by Winter Witch’s Cold Flesh

6-Frostfoot 8-Iceplant 10-Ice Tomb 12-Hoarfrost

14-Numbing Chill 16-Animal Skin 18-Witch’s Hut

20-Natural Disaster

If you didn’t catch on, we are doing a winter theme here. Frozen Caress turn spells into [Cold] spells, Slumber is a no-brainer, Frostfoot allows us not to faceplant when walking on ice, Iceplant add to our poor, poor AC, Ice Tomb is an encounter ender, Hoarfrost is a significant debuff and Numbing Chill make our [Cold] spells extra deadly by applying downright savage debuffs in addition to the spell’s regular effect(which combines with Frozen Caress). Finally, Animal Skin let us turn into a Polar Bear and let’s be honest, that’s just friggin cool. Witch’s Hut allows us to tap into our inner Baba Yaga, and Natural Disaster is just a nice fit to make our winters even deadlier.

Winter Witch Prestige Class

So, this prestige class let us continue leveling our hexes, while buffing our cold spells to the point where they bypass resistances and eventually immunity? Brutally effective, turning the Witch into a very effective blaster, without hampering our debuffing at all.

Spells

We will be taking the Winter Patron because duh.

1-Frostbite, Mage Armor, Icicle Dagger, Ill Omen, Snowball, Charm Person, Cure Light Wounds, Command
2-Unshakable Chill, Chill Touch, Wizened Appearance
3-Frost Fall, Ice Slick
4-Resist Energy(Cold Only), See Invisibility, Winter Grasp
5-Fly, Ice Spears
6-N/A
7-Sleet Storm, Bestow Curse
8-Wall of Ice, Scrying, Dimension Door
9-Black Tentacles, Solid Fog
10-Icy Prison, Dominate Person, Teleport
11-Prying Eyes, Reincarnate
12-Freezing Sphere, Cone of Cold, Flesh to Stone
13-True Seeing, Unwilling Shield
14-Ice Body, Waves of Exhaustion
15-Greater Teleport, Greater Scrying
16-Ice Storm, Control Weather, Destruction
17-Mind Blank, Antipathy
18-Polar Midnight, Massacre
19-Mass Suffocation, Elemental Swarm
20-Astral Projection, Curse of Fell Season

Equipment

Component Pouch, some regal clothes. Winter Witches are canonically in Pathfinder the queens of witches so act like one!

Final Thoughts on the Build

Even though we focus entirely on cold damage, one of the most resisted damage types in the game, we quite literally bypass that resistance, and even immunity, making our Cold spells capable of rapidly wrecking complete havoc on the battlefield, while we still have all our debuffs like Slumber and Ill Omens from being a Witch. We also are a capable social character and with our few metamagic, can turn encounters to completely one-sided massacres in our favor in a single round if we so wish.

The False Priestess

So this build came from the weird idea to get into the False Priest Prestige Class (Razmiran Priest from Golarion) from the Witch Class and try to pass us off as another type of character entirely. We will take the Bouda Archetype for our Witch levels.

Our leveling will look like the following:

Class

Witch 10/False Priest 10

Race

Half-Elf as it gives us Skill Focus as a bonus feat. We will take the Fey Thoughts Alternative Racial Feature, and we will pick Stealth and Perception, making both always class skills for us. Put your floating +2 in Intelligence of course.

Ability Scores

15Point-Buy

Str 10/Dex 10/Con 12/Int 20/Wis 10/Cha 7 Put everything in Intelligence

20Point-Buy

Str 10/Dex 12/Con 14/Int 20/Wis 10/Cha 7 Again, everything in Intelligence

25Point-Buy

Str 10/Dex 14/Con 15/Int 20/Wis 10/Cha 7

Round up Constitution, then everything else in Intelligence.

Traits

Cosmopolitan for Linguistics as class skill, Pragmatic Activator for Intelligence on Use Magic Devices

Favored Class Bonus

Skill Points, as we need tons of these apparently for this build.

Skills

We need Spellcraft, Linguistics, Use Magic Devices, Bluff, Sleight of Hands, Stealth and Perception and Knowledge(Religion) to look like anywhere near a cleric.

Feats by Level

1-False Casting

Half-Elf Bonus-Skill Focus(Linguistics) 3-Orator

5-Agonizing Hex 7-Toughness

9-Improved Initiative 11-Split Hex

13-Extra Hex 15-Extra Hex 17-Extra Hex 19-Extra Hex

Orator make us really good at social rolls, which feeds into False Casting, allowing us to pass as a Divine Spellcaster. Agonizing Hex and Split Hex improve our Hex abilities, and as we will be multiclassing, Extra Hex comes in handy to get us some juicy Major Hexes.

Hexes by Level 1-Bouda’s Eye 2-Slumber

4-Feral Speech 6-Healing

8-Ward

10-Replaced by Bouda’s Hyena Shape

13-Major Healing

15-Regenerative Sinew 17-Agony

19-Retribution

We get both severe debuffs, such as Bouda’s Eye which is just Evil Eye on both crack and steroid at the same time, Slumber, Agony and Retribution, and abilities to fake being a Cleric once again such as Healing, Ward, Major Healing and Regenerative Sinew. We also get the ability to shift into Hyena Shape, and still be able to cast spells in that form, and the ability to talk to animals via Feral Speech.

False Priest

False Priest gives us a fake(at first) Channel Energy which gives temporary hit points, two Domain’s powera(we will choose Trickery and Charm), along with a few spells from the cleric’s list.

Spells by Level

We will be taking the Plague Patron
1-Cure Light Wounds, Ill Omen, Mage Armor, Command, Positive Pulse, Blood Money, Inflict
Light Wounds, Itching Curse
2-Detect Undead, Obscuring Mist, Ray of Sickening
3-Cure Moderate Wounds, Blood Transcription
4-Command Undead, Bloodbath, Zone of Truth
5-Bestow Curse, Heroism
6-Contagion, Remove Disease, Dispel Magic
7-Cure Serious Wounds, Deathward
8-Animate Dead, Neutralize Poison, Shadow Step
9-Blood Boil, Cure Critical Wounds
10-Giant Vermin, Greater Contagion, Feeblemind
11-Bless
12-Epidemic, Eyebite
13-Mass Fester, Swarm Skin
14-Heal, Harm
15-Spiritual Weapon
16-Mass Hunger for Flesh, Regenerate
17-False Resurrection, Sympathy
18-Antipathy, Clone
19-Prayer
20-Impenetrable Veil, Dominate Monster

Equipment

Some “Holy Symbol”, Component Pouch, Cleric Clothes, a Quarterstaff or a Spear, a Dagger. A Heavy Mace.

Final Thoughts on the Build

This build is the exemplification of what a Skinwalker is. Looking like an upstanding member of society at day, a cleric that heals and takes care of people. At night, an evil creature, capable of taking the form of a beast and spreading diseases and curses. This build does

both these things really well, and can easily pass off as a cleric if you play your cards right. Until you reveal the monster you truly are.

The Wicked Witch of the West

So what if we wanted to make the witchiest witch of them all? If we wanted to make as close as possible the representation of all the ideas of witches in stories told to children and adults alike to frighten them?

Fear not, for I have a build for you!

We will be taking the Hagbound Archetype, and will only be taking levels in Witch.

Race

Changeling, with the Witchborn Alternative Racial Feature and the Hulking Changeling

ancestry, giving us an additional +1 to melee damage.

Ability Scores

15Points

Str 14/Dex 10/Con 12/Int 18/Wis 8/Cha 9 Everything in Intelligence

20Point-Buy

Str 14/Dex 10/Con 12/Int 20/Wis 7/Cha 9 Everything once again in Intelligence

25Point-Buy

Str 14/Dex 10/Con 15/Int 20/Wis 7/Cha 9

Round up Constitution, then everything in Intelligence

Traits

Pragmatic Activator for Int to Use Magic Devices, Adopted to get Tusked for a bite attack.

Favored Class Bonus

We are a Witch who will go into melee, so Hit Points are at a premium.

Skills

Spellcraft, Use Magic Devices, Survival and Knowledge(Arcana and Nature), but also Bluff, Intimidate and Fly as soon as you get a flying method(or just buy a Broom of Flying)

Familiar

We are taking a Black Cat for no other reason than Thematically appropriate.

Feats by Level

1-Toughness

3-Power Attack 5-Agonizing Hex 7-Extra Hex

9-Extra Hex 11-Extra Hex

13-Extra Hex 15-Extra Hex 17-Extra Hex 19-Extra Hex

As we get rid of most hexes, we have to power through all our required feats within our first few levels. Toughness will be invaluable as we will be getting into melee quite a lot even as a witch, Power Attack will significantly add to our damage, and since we do not care about our low BaB due to using Natural Weapons anyway. Agonizing Hex allows us to reuse our Hexes on enemies, and everything else goes into Extra Hex to get back all those hexes we failed to get due to our Archetype.

Hexes by Level

Replaced by Hagbound’s Hag’s Claws

Replaced by Hagbound’s Hunched Muscle

4-Replaced by Hagbound’s Vain Glamour

6-Cauldron

Extra Hex 7-Child-Scent

8-Replaced by Hagbound’s Hunched Muscle

Extra Hex 9-Swamp Hag

10-Replaced by Hagbound’s Vile Curse

Extra Hex 11-Animal Skin

12-Replaced by Hagbound’s Vain Glamour

Extra Hex 13-Withering

14-Replaced by Hagbound’s Hunched Muscle

Extra Hex 15-Cook People 16-Hag’s Eye

Extra Hex 17-False Hospitality 18-Eternal Slumber

Extra Hex 19-Witch’s Hut

20-Replaced by Hagbound’s Hag Transformation

We can smell small children, gain inhuman strength, can walk in the swamp with no difficulties, can cast Bestow Curse at will, change our appearance to look like someone else, have a Cauldron in which we can cook people, make potions, we can send people into an Eternal Slumber, age them rapidly while stealing their life forces, see things hidden with magic, take the shape of animals and we even have an animated hut who can walk away on its own. If all that doesn’t scream “Witch” to you, you are a lost cause and need a good ol’ jelly filled donut.

Spells by Level

We will the the Strength Patron
1-Ill Omen, Cause Fear, Charm Person, Sleep, Command, Hypnotism, Mage Armor,
Sickening Ray
2-Divine Favor, Shadow Trap, Web Bolt
3-Detect Thoughts, Blindness/Deafness
4-Bull’s Strength, Death Candle, Steal Voice
5-Barrow Haze, Claim Identity6-Greater Magic Weapon, Thorny Entanglement, Suggestion
7-Fear, Shadow Step
8-Divine Power, Scrying, Hunger for Flesh
9-Baleful Polymorph, Damnation Stride
10-Righteous Might, Dominate Person, Feast on Fear
11-Animate Objects, Eyebite
12-Mass Bull’s Strength, Cruel Jaunt, Green Caress
13-Control Weather, Mass Hold Person
14-Giant Form I, Harm, Heal
15-Death Clutch, False Resurrection
16-Giant Form II, Trap the Soul, Epidemic
17-Cursed Earth, Mass Suffocation
18-Shapechange, Massacre, Astral Projection
19-Dominate Monster, Curse of Fell Season
20-Foresight, Fey Form IV

Equipment

A Quarterstaff and a pointy hat. Component Pouch

Final Thoughts on the Build

Summoning thorns that grapple enemies, from a Cauldron eat misbehaving children, charm men and steal the voice of beautiful maidens, take the form of an animal, to that of a wicked dragon, massacre things with your vicious claws and bite, walk in the shadows and spread curses, diseases and poisons, while turning people into frogs, you are THE Archetypical Witch, and this is one of, if not my absolute favorite build I have ever made in Pathfinder by far. It’s so over the top and yet extremely effective and strong, it can only be extremely fun to play into all the stereotypes with this build.