Introduction
This article covers the remastered version of the Witch. For help with the legacy Witch, see our Legacy Witch Handbook.
The Witch is a spellcaster granted power by a mysterious Patron. The Witch’s core features are very close to the Wizard, and their spellcasting works very similarly, but your choice of Patron Theme allows you to select the spell list of your choice similar to the Sorcerer, and the theme of the class’s features have a distinctly less scholarly bent. DnD 5e players might justifiably see thematic similarities to 5e’s warlocks, but the similarities end there.
Similar to the Wizard, the Witch’s ability to learn any number of spells from their spell list makes them a magical tool box with a tool for every specific problem one might encounter. Beyond that excellent foundation, the Witch’s ability to select their own spell list allows them to fill nearly any role in the party by selecting your Patron Theme and spells. Like the Wizard, the Witch’s high Intelligence gives you a lot of trained skills at 1st level, making it easy to play your party’s Librarian or to pick up skills to support other skill-based capabilities.
Beyond their spellcasting, the Witch is the uncontested master of familiars, and their Focus Spells (called “Hexes”) are truly fantastic, and include powerful Hex Cantrips which can often define your character’s best tactical options.
Also see our supporting articles:
- Witch Ancestries and Heritages Breakdown
- Witch Feats Breakdown
- Witch Hexes Breakdown
- Witch Patrons Breakdown
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Disclaimer
- Remaster Changes
- Witch Class Features
- Witch Attributes
- Witch Ancestries and Heritages
- Witch Backgrounds
- Witch Skills and Skill Feats
- Witch Feats
- Witch Weapons
- Witch Armor
- Witch Focus Spells – Hexes
- Archetypes
- Witch Multiclass Archetype
Disclaimer
RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks.
- : Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
- : OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances. Useful sometimes.
- : Good options. Useful often.
- : Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character. Useful very frequently.
Remaster Changes
Witches can now choose between Patron’s Puppet and Phase Familiar at level 1; previously they were locked into Phase Familiar, which a witch might never use.
Patron Themes have been renamed to “Patrons” and each Patron now provides a completely unique familiar ability, both buffing your Patron options and making Patrons with the same spell list more distinct from one another.
9 feats from the Advanced Player’s Guide have not been reprinted. Hex Wellspring (Refocus 3 points) is no longer necessary, but it’s not clear why the rest were dropped.
The changes to the Focus Spell rules make the Witch’s Hexes much easier to use consistently, dramatically shifting the resource management around Hexes like Cackle.
Witch Class Features
Key Attribute: Intelligence is the Witch’s Key Attribute, and like any spellcaster it’s used for your Spell Attacks and for your Spell DCs. Those are two of your most important stats, so keep your Intelligence as high as you can get it. Intelligence also grants you additional Trained skills at 1st level, allowing you to easily invest in numerous skills, including Lore options which other classes often need to ignore in favor of more important skills.
: 6+Con hit points. Fortunately you have plenty of room to boost your ability scores so your Constitution bonus can compensate.
: The Witch’s proficiencies are terrible. Your saving throw progression is very slightly worse than the Wizard’s, which you make up for by having better weapon proficiencies which you’ll almost certainly never use. Like the Wizard, your high Intelligence will give you an abundance of Trained skills at first level, but that’s the best part of your proficiencies beyond spellcasting.
- : Trained at 1st level, and it maxes out at Expert at 11th level. Expect to rely on allies for Perception checks, and strongly consider Incredible Initiative if you don’t want to go late in the turn order in every fight. You might also consider Canny Acumen to boost your Perception proficiency, especially if you take it well before 11th level.
- : Only one good saving throw. Will is a great option, but only one good saving throw is still a serious handicap, and it never improves past Master. Your other saving throws will increase to expert, but no further. You can take the Canny Acumen feat, but that won’t get you past Expert until 17th level, so you’ll spend most of your career with absolutely dismal saving throws compared to your allies.
- : One skill from your Patron, then 3+Int additional Trained skills for a total of 4+Int. 4+ is standard, and thanks to high Intelligence you’ll start with numerous skills.
- : Don’t plan to use weapons beyond very low levels. You only get simple weapons and never advance past Expert.
- : No armor proficiencies, and your proficiency in Unarmored Defense never increases past Expert. Expect to rely on spells like Mage Armor, and be sure that you have nice sturdy friends to hide behind.
- Spellcasting DC: Standard progression for a full spellcaster.
1: Witch Patron: See our Witch Patrons Breakdown.
1:
: The Witch is a prepared spellcaster, preparing spells that their familiar knows each day during Daily Preparations. Your familiar learns two spells for free every level, but can learn more from other sources much like a wizard can add spells to their spellbook.Your choice of spellcasting tradition will be determined by your Patron. All four traditions are available to the Witch.
1:
: As central to the Witch as a spellbook is to the Wizard, your familiar is also unusually powerful compared to other familiars. Where most characters start with 2 familiar powers and might get up to 6 with several feats, the Witch’s familiar starts with 4 and gets up to 8 without spending a single feat (4 base, 3 as you level, 1 from your Patron), but can reach 12 with two feats. This allows your familiar to be useful, versatile, and heavily customizable.For help with your familiar, see our Practical Guide to Familiars.
1:
: The Witch’s Focus Spells. You’ll get one by default and you may get more from your Patron.- PC1: Free Actions are very powerful.
- PC1: Great if you tend to put your familiar in harm’s way, such as by having it deliver touch spells.
1:
: A second pool of cantrips. Hex Cantrips are still a Hex, so you’re still limited to one Hex per round, but they’re Cantrips so you can use them without spending a Focus Point. Most Hex Cantrips have a 1-Action casting time, making them a great way to spend an Action before or after casting a 2-Action spell.For more help selecting Focus Spells, see our Remastered Witch Hexes Breakdown.
Witch Attributes
The Witch’s ability score needs are extremely simple.
: Dump.
: AC and saves.
: HP and saves.
: Your Key Attribute.
: Perception and saves.
: Dump.
Witch Ancestries and Heritages
Boosts to Intelligence are crucial. Ancestries which provides boosts to Intelligence and either Dexterity or Constitution while providing flaws in either Strength or Charisma are ideal. In addition, innate spells can add even more spellcasting options, though they will be Charisma-based in most cases, so look for utility options and buffs.
For more help selecting an Ancestry and Heritage, see our Witch Ancestries and Heritages Breakdown.
Witch Backgrounds
Boosts to Constitution and to either Dexterity or Constitution are ideal. Look for Intelligence-based skills.
If you’re having trouble deciding, here are some suggestions:
- Cultist
- Fortune Teller
- Hermit
Witch Skills and Skill Feats
You get Skill Increases at 3rd and 5th level to raise skills to Expert, increases at 7th, 9th, 11th, and 13th level to raise skills to Master, and increases at 15th, 17th, and 19th level to raise skills to Legendary. That means that you can maximize at most three skills, and the rest of your skills might not advance beyond Trained.
You get Skill Feats at even-numbered levels, giving you a total of 10 Skill Feats (and maybe another from your Background) by 20th level. Generally, you want to invest these feats in the same skills which you are choosing to maximize, though in some cases you may want to grab feats from skills which don’t require that you be more than Trained.
- : Being knocked prone while flying is an easy way to counter flying creatures, and enemies can do it just as easily to you as you can do it to them. Cat Fall will reduce the effective distance you’ve fallen, allowing you to take less damage from a fall. However, the effects of Cat Fall scale based on your Proficiency level, so it may not be worth the skill feat unless you plan to increase your proficiency in Acrobatics.
(Dex): Surprisingly important
because it’s used for maneuvering while flying.- : If you can make Detect Magic free, you should cast it frequently any time that there’s even a remote chance that you’ll encounter magic. You’re going to maximize Arcana anyway, so this will get better as you gain levels. Of course, Detect Magic is a Cantrip which you could get by several means, and normal Cantrip scaling will be faster than waiting to become Legendary in Arcana.
- : Your Intelligence will always exceed your Wisdom, so your Arcana will always exceed your Nature and Religion, so at the very least this is a numeric boost to those skills. More importantly, you don’t need to spend Skill Increases on Nature, Occultism, or Religion.
(Int): A crucial knowledge skill.- (Str): Strength is your dump stat.
- (Int): You’re probably the smartest person in the party, and someone in the party needs it to handle magic runes. Also, Scroll Savant is really good.
- (Cha): Witches are not a great Face since they have no dependence on Charisma.
- (Cha): Witches are not a great Face since they have no dependence on Charisma.
- (Cha): Casting a spell is typically a 2-Action Activity, which means that in many rounds you’ll have a spare Action and not much to do with it. In those situations, Demoralize is a great use of an Action. However, that spare action may also be important for the Sustain a Spell action.
- (Int): You have the Intelligence to back up Lore, so pick up a variety of different Lore skills.
- (Wis): You’ll have enough Wisdom to make Medicine viable, but hopefully you’ll be in a party with someone else who can cover it so that you can focus on Intelligence-based skills.
- (Wis): Despite being Wisdom-based, Nature may be an important skill for the Witch so that you can identify spells being cast by other spellcasters.
- : Most enemies won’t be able to identify your magic, and the few that can will rarely care.
(Int): On par with Arcana, and
you have plenty of Intelligence to make it work.- (Cha): There is no way for the Witch to make use of this short of things like the Goblin Song feat.
- (Wis): Despite being Wisdom-based, Religion may be an important skill for the Witch so that you can identify spells being cast by other spellcasters.
- (Int): The closest thing you’ll get to a Face skill.
- (Dex): With poor Perception, Stealth can be a good way to improve your Initiative rolls.
- (Wis): Too situational.
- (Dex): Essential in any party, and with no armor you’ll need enough Dexterity that this is viable.
Varying Skill Feats
- : Using a Free Action means that you can identify spells multiple time between turns, which is crucial against multiple enemy spellcasters or if you need your Reaction for something else.
: With high Intelligence,
passable Wisdom, and easy access to spellcasting-related skills, the Witch
is perhaps the best-suited character to identifying enemy spells. You also
have access to Counterspell and other means to counteract magic, so being
able to identify spells as a Reaction can be a powerful tool against enemy
spellcasters.
Witch Feats
The Witch’s Class Feats include spellshape options, additional familiar powers, and access to additional focus spells and Focus Spells via Witch Lesson feats.
For help selecting Class Feats, see our Witch Class Feats Breakdown.
General Feats
- PC1: Improving your armor options will mean that you don’t need to invest as much in Dexterity. Your proficiency from this will advance as the same rate as your Unarmored Defense proficiency, too, so it remains impactful at high levels.
- PC1: You have among the lowest hp in the game and no armor proficiency, so more hit points are very welcome.
Witch Weapons
Witches have very little reason to use weapons beyond very low levels.
- : Crossbows are expensive, you’re not very good with them, and it takes at least one Action to load so you can’t fire them every round while casting spells in most cases. Still, at low levels having a loaded crossbow at the beginning of combat lets you use any spare Actions to attack if your Hex Cantrips don’t offer anything useful at the moment.
- : Your best melee weapon option, but do your best to never actually use it.
Witch Armor
- : Basically just a fancy outfit that you can apply magic runes to. Mage Armor is probably enough if it’s on your spell list, but most witches will go for Explorer’s Clothing.
Witch Focus Spells – Hexes
Hexes are the Witch’s Focus Spells. They have a variety of interesting effects, many of which are really powerful. Notably, many Hexes (including Hex Cantrips) have a 1-minute duration and must be Sustained, making the Cackle Hex a powerful option (though expensive since it is itself a Hex and therefore consumes a Focus Point) until you can get Effortless Concentration at 16th level.
Hex Cantrips are still a Hex, so you’re still limited to one Hex per round, but they’re Cantrips so you can use them without spending a Focus Point. Most Hex Cantrips have a 1-Action casting time, making them a great way to spend an Action before or after casting a 2-Action spell.
For more help with focus spells, see our Witch Focus Spells Breakdown.
Archetypes
This is not a comprehensive list of archetypes which might be useful for this class. For more on archetypes, see our archetype handbooks.
- : If you’re leaning into your familiar, the Familiar Master may be a better option than the Witch’s feats which grant additional powers.
- : More Intelligence-based spellcasting.
Witch Multiclass Archetype
The Witch’s Hexes offer a few interesting options for other spellcasters, but most of the Witch Multiclass Archetype’s appeal is the additional spellcasting. The feats related to familiars can generally be access more easily with the Familiar Master archetype, but if you want both a better familiar and more spellcasting (maybe you’re a wizard and just couldn’t bring yourself to play witch), you might do well here.
Because this is a spellcasting archetype, be sure to check the rules for spellcasting archetypes.
- : A familiar (which already costs a class feat in most cases), one cantrip, and one Trained skill. A fantastic deal for a single class feat. The familiar does not gain the Witch’s unusually larger number of familiar powers.
- : Intelligence-based spellcasting from whatever tradition your patreon grants. Excellent for other Intelligence-based spellcasters such as the Magus and the Wizard.
- : Some of the Witch’s low-level feats are broadly appealing, such as Cackle and Cauldron, but most of them are spellcasting-focused and will mostly only appeal to other spellcasters who often already have the same feats.
- : Very few feat options which are appealing outside of the class. Most of the Familiar-focused options can be found in the Familiar Master archetype, and the Focus Spell-related feats may not be worthwhile since you’re getting them much later than a witch would.
- : I would wait to take this until you have Expert Witch Spellcasting (or at least until you’re close to taking it), but the extra spell slots are excellent.
- : More spells.
- : More spells.