A Guide to the Veneficus Witch

Welcome all! This is my first attempt at a guide: so while I do beg your patience, I would also appreciate your advice. This guide is designed to break down options for the Veneficus archetype of Witch (found in the “People of the River” Pathfinder Player Companion.) Basically, this archetype trades out two hexes (levels 2 and 10) for the ability to add a poison attack rider to a hex that s/he is using within the same standard action. You, of course, also get the Poison Use ability. You trade out your 2nd level Hex, and your 10th level Major Hex in exchange.

As we all know that poison is sub-optimal within the Pathfinder game mechanics, I’m offering this guide as a way to get the most out of this archetype, as well as poison use in general, without sacrificing too much in terms of optimization. Optimization may not be the most important thing in your game, but we all still want characters who can contribute efficiently. Just note that poisons have the same weakness as hexes, in that they’re ineffective against the same monster types (undead, constructs, etc.) So, be prepared with alternate actions when facing these threats.

So, why play a veneficus witch?

Maybe you’re playing a themed game? A game with high political intrigue? Maybe you want to make a character based on Locusta? Maybe you want to play a different style of witch? Or maybe you’re just getting tired of the standard, OP Slumber Hex.

We’ll use the Treantmonk gold standard in guide ratings:

Blue – Best, or optimal, choice!

Green – An excellent choice. Solid B or B+

Black – Completely average grade (or something difficult to grade properly)

Orange – Distinctly sub-optimal, or situational

Red – This should be avoided at all costs. Either it’s simply bad, or doesn’t work as meant to. #Fail

Note that recommended attributes differ slightly from Ye Olde Standard Witch:

Strength – Dump it like it’s going out of style.

Dexterity – Just as important for you as any other caster

Constitution – Not only are you squishy, but you might have a poison ability that scales on Con…

Intelligence – Max this. Always!!!

Wisdom – Don’t dump it: Will saves and Perception are useful. No need to spend here, though.

Charisma – If you use Eldritch Heritage: you’ll need a 13. If you use Sorcerer VMC: you’ll still want at least a 10 in order to not gimp your number of rounds / day of poison use. If you plan to acquire all your poisons through other means, then dump this like there’s no tomorrow.

Races:

See every other Witch guide for recommendations: I recommend the same. Note that none of the “poison carrying” races from the Advanced Race Guide (Grippli, Nagaji, Vishkanya) are special enough to warrant a listing here. Their venoms are not useful enough to overcome the fact that they don’t give bonuses to Intelligence. MAYBE the Vishkanya is worth considering, if only for how the race and its internal poison dovetails with roleplaying possibilities for the archetype. Go for it, if you’re ok with a 16 as starting Intelligence.

Much Ado About Poison

Let’s start with the venomous elephant in the room: we need a way to have constant access to a poison that is (A) effective, (B) has an appropriately scaling DC, and (C) won’t gimp our witch wallets.

Here are some of the most common ways of procuring poison:

Finding / Scavenging – AKA: “I hope my GM hooks us up”. Absolutely unreliable method.

Purchasing / Crafting – More reliable than loot boxes, but still sub-optimal: even crafting poison gets expensive. It does allow you to use the Potent Concoctions trait, however. Drow Poisons or Large Scorpion venoms will probably be your mainstay through mid-levels.

Familiar Venom – Now you’re getting warmer! Free, replenishing resources are your friend. The good news is that it’s free. The bad news is that familiar venom is weak, and the ability DC’s don’t scale. This option is a back-up that you can use when you run out of the good stuff (especially during the early levels.) Or load on your crossbow bolts because why not.

Racial Venom – Much better! These venoms scale with your level (and Con score.) The major drawback here is that they require you to use races that are not optimal for Witches (specifically Grippli, Nagaji, or Vishkanyas; as mentioned in the section above.) Vishkanyas are the best of these meh options.

Animal Companion Venom – Excellent choice! It costs three feats (Nature Soul, Animal Ally, Boon Companion), and/or you can dip level(s) in Druid/Hunter/Cavalier. Basically, you can get an Animal Companion with scaling hit die and Con scores that increase with level. AC’s can also serve your squishy witchy well by being meat-shields / bodyguards, or as a mount to ride on (saving your Move Actions for more, delicious cackling.) The top choice is the Megalania. Other options are the Viper Snake, Giant Centipede, Giant Spider, Giant Scorpion, and Giant Wasp. The Megalania is better IMO because you can ride it, has useful poison, good Con score, and because it has built-in intelligence for easier training; especially compared to the vermin. (Yes, use the darn animal training rules! Don’t be that douche who uses animal companions as if they were extra PCs or Awakened Animals.) Though note that its poison doesn’t come online until you get 7th Level companion benefits.

Serpentine Sorcerer Bloodline – Also excellent! This option will cost you feats as well, but it provides you with a poison that scales in both potency and DC with level. It also give you a pair of wonderful, role-playable fangs! (Which can be useful on the rare occasion when you may need to provide flanking bonuses or make enemy casters provoke AOO’s from casting through your positioning. More on this below…

How to Acquire an Animal Companion

Remember, we don’t want just any companion: we specifically need one of the venomous creatures above. The trick here is to find a way to acquire – and advance – such a companion. There are only three classes that grant the [non-viper] companions listed above: Druid, Hunter, and Cavalier (Beast Rider). Other classes only grant a list of specific creature options. Remember that whenever you gain a level, you can “trade in” your gently used Animals for brand new models without ever setting foot in the dealership! There are three options for getting the companion:

Take 3+ Levels of Companion-Granting Classes + Boon Companion Feat – This is obviously sub-optimal for building an effective caster witch.

Take 1 Level of Companion Class + the Nature Soul / Animal Ally / Boon Companion Feats – This works fairly well, but requires you to work the system a little bit. The “Animal Ally” feat specifically requires you to NOT already have a companion, then gives you only a short list of options (i.e.- your 1st level will still be Witch.) HOWEVER, by RAW: Animal Ally still stacks and combines with the class abilities that do give you your companion. It’s jumping through hoops, but it works. That 1 level dip in Hunter or Cavalier can be useful in other ways as well. Note that without the Boon Companion feat: your buddy will advance at Character Level – 2 (Animal Ally is CL-3, plus levels of Companion class.) In any case, you can have a level-appropriate Animal Companion by CL 7 (or even level 5). Note that Hunter vs Verminous Hunter vs Beast Rider Cavalier will all give you different options for Animal Companions.

Take the Druid Variant Multiclass – This is probably optimal (if you’re not in PFS), if only because it doesn’t slow your progression. You also get the potentially useful Wild Empathy feature. Note that your companion’s advancement is pegged at CL – 4 until level 11 (with no Boon Companion option.) You do, however, get free range of companion creature options.

How to Acquire the Serpentine Bloodline

A Single Level of Sorcerer – Witches don’t multiclass well, and you also won’t be able to have your poison scale with level. Do not do this!

Eldritch Heritage (Serpentine) – This requires only two feats (only one, if you’re a Half-Elf. Or a Human with the Focused Study trait.) The Skill Focus (Diplomacy) feat is still rather useful anyway, so that’s not too bad. The only issues here are that you need to meet the Charisma 13 pre-requisite, and also that the poison scales at Character Level-2 (as per the Eldritch Heritage feat.) If you’re a Human, then you can take the Powerful Presence alternate racial trait (from Heroes of the High Court) in place of the racial feat to treat your Cha score as +2 for feat requirements, while also gaining the Persuasive feat. If you’re playing a home game, then maybe try sweet-talking your GM into allowing the “Draconic Heritage” (Legacy of Dragons) alternate racial trait to work with the Serpentine, instead of Draconic, bloodline.

Serpentine Sorcerer Variant Multiclass – Unlike Eldritch Heritage: this option eats half of your feats, while removing the Charisma requirement and allowing the poison to scale at your full CL. Since most games end before level 15: this basically means losing three feats instead of the two for Eldritch Heritage. Note that the level 7 ability is mostly wasted, since you already have a familiar. Unlimited speak with reptiles can be useful, but if you play in a home game: see if your GM will let you trade out the Viper Familiar (level-2) for a Viper Animal Companion (level-2) instead. The level 11 ability (Bloodline Feat) is meh, because most feat options will not be so useful for a mid/high level caster. Your best bets there are Combat Casting or Silent Spell. Here’s a nice table to break it all down:

Honestly, both options are good. It’s simply a function of personal preference (and whether or not you can afford to have that extra Charisma.)

Last Thoughts on Acquiring Poisons

As much as I don’t recommend spending your hard-earned gold on poisons to use all the time – it may be worthwhile to stock a couple poisons that target different ability scores in order to take advantage of enemy weaknesses. For example: Dragon Bile or Purple Worm Poison for Strength; Giant Wasp Poison for Dexterity; Deathblade or Black Lotus Extract for Con; etc. Also take note of poisons that have effects other than simple ability damage, such as Nightmare Vapor (confusion), Azure Lily Pollen (nausea / paralysis), or Drow Poison (unconsciousness).

The Fighter or Barbarian will keep different weapons and different materials on hand to overcome DR. The Sorcerer or Evoker will use metamagic feats or abilities to combat energy resistances. Likewise, you should consider the best poisons (and spells) for best effect against the enemies you’re facing.

Class Abilities:

Poison Use – Sort of necessary for this archetype, I guess. Use it to poison up the dagger or crossbow bolts that you’ll use once in every blue moon. Of course, there’s nothing in the rules preventing you from using this to spice up your companions’ weapons, even if they don’t have poison use…

Toxic Words – This is the crown jewel of the archetype. Basically, whenever you target an enemy with a hex they must save against: you can use this to add a poison to the hex, as if they had successfully been attacked with a poisoned weapon. The catch is that both the hex and the poison reduce their respective DC’s by 2, and the poison only ‘activates’ if they fail the hex DC (i.e.- they have to fail the hex save; even if cackling can extend the hex.) The poisons used MUST be Injury or Contact poisons. Note that you are not obliged to use Toxic Words on top of every hex – and your hex DC is not reduced when you’re not using Toxic Words. You can pick (before your action) if/when to use this versus a regular Hex.

At level 10: you can also use this with Inhaled or Ingested poisons, and the DC of both poison and Hex are reduced by only 1 instead of 2.

Best Hexes for the Archetype:

I won’t list them all – just the ones I feel are worth noting specifically in reference to this archetype, plus the new inclusions herein. The fact that other good options (like Flight, Fortune, etc.) aren’t listed here doesn’t mean that they should not be considered.

Cackle – AKA “crack-le” Har har! Of course I love this one too. Good candidate for the Extra Hex feat. You’ll use this to let your Evil Eye/Misfortune stick despite saves: and prep a target for your Toxic Words.

Cauldron – Great for role playing. Brew Potion can be useful to outfit your team with cheap buffs they can use on their own actions. Also necessary if you want the Poison Steep and/or Cook People hexes. Otherwise, poison use from this is rather meh. You won’t need the +4 bonus to Craft (Alchemy).

Concentrate Poison (Alchemist discovery) – This is great, if you can “produce” your own poison for free! Combining two doses for one dose with +50% duration and (more importantly) +2 DC can’t be beat. Remember that it takes a minute to “mix” the poisons, and that they must be used within one hour.

Evil Eye – This is your gold standard. No witch should go without this. You’ll use this to prepare your targets for your Toxic Words by first dropping their saving throws. And again when you actually use Toxic Words – because unlike most hexes: Evil Eye can repeatedly work on the same enemy (targeting different debuffs each time.)

Misfortune – This bad boy is useful to help you set up your target to fail their poison Fort saves. Useful for any witch who needs an enemy to definitively fail their saves (…which are all witches, honestly.) This is another vessel for Toxic Words, since Cackle can extend a Misfortune even on a failed save.

Poison Conversion (Alchemist discovery) – Useful if you “secrete” (or otherwise prefer) poisons that are not Injury or Contact poisons. You must be level 6 to take this, however. Retrain after level 10, of course.

Poison Steep – Excellent role playing fodder, but not so necessary mechanically: we can do all is with our hexes, remember? Not to mention that this creates Ingested poisons which we can’t use (unless we also take the awful Poison Conversion hex.) Don’t bother with Beguiling Gift – poison them with hexes!

Sticky Poison (Alchemist discovery) – This can’t be beat if you rely on found/crafted poisons! Especially since your Intelligence mod will guarantee non-stop fun. Also great if you, for some reason, are going Eldritch Knight, etc., for weapon use. This is orange/red if you rely only on accessing “free” poisons.

Major Hex: Agony – This can be useful, if you need to add more debuffs (sickened) before dropping that Toxic Words or Save-Or-Die spell.

Major Hex: Cook People – You’re a terrible person. Useful hex…but you’re a terrible person. This hex is not any more special for a Veneficus: I just wanted to tell you that you’re a bad person for liking this. Ha.

Major Hex: Malignant Poison (Alchemist discovery) – You’re going to be mad that the archetype didn’t just give you this one at level 10. Bump the Fort DC by +4 and the duration by +2 rounds? Winning. This may give the ever popular Ice Tomb a run for its money. Also compatible with Split Hex. This is from the Dungeoneer’s Handbook.

Major Hex: Nauseating Flesh (Alchemist discovery) – You probably already have your favorite poison of choice by the time you can access this. If you’ve been relying on finding/crafting poisons, then this might be a worthwhile “free” option: it scales with your level, like a hex does, and it also has some defensive value (though I wouldn’t waste a major hex just for bite defense.) Otherwise: this is basically another version of Agony that you can combine with your Evil Eye / Misfortune attack using Toxic Words, in order to save yourself extra action economy. From Ultimate Combat.

Major Hex: Waxen Image – Useful for messing with people in a creative, high intrigue campaign. Or if you just want to be like the Maharaja kid from “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”.

Grand Hex: Poison Touch (Alchemist discovery) – This would have been a cool “Major Hex”, but a d3 Con damage poison at level 18? #Meh. At this point, who cares that it’s unlimited and scales. You surely have better options to spend your truly limited Grand Hexes on. Unless maybe you grapple a lot?

Best Patrons:

Same as per other Witch guides. Personally, I prefer the Insanity, Shadow, Time, and Trickery Patrons.

Useful Skills:

Same as per other Witch guides. Though perhaps add Sleight of Hand and Disguise onto your list – in case you need to spike someone’s food or drink with an ‘extra ingredient’ on the sly.

Useful Feats:

I’m reviewing a few feats specifically in reference to this archetype. See any other Witch guide for a general breakdown on feats.

Ability Focus (Poison) – If your GM lets you take monster feats: go for it.

Extra Hex – You’ll want this in ANY witch build. Especially one like this, which trades out Hexes for other abilities.

Infuse Poison – Basically a less useful version of Spell Hex. Would be almost good if you could add the spell onto an existing poison. #Pass

Master Alchemist – Useful if you need to craft all of your poisons, while in the middle of an adventure.

Poison Focus – Pretty cool if you craft your own poisons. Ask your GM if that bit about “poison descriptor” spells can also apply to hexes? (Probably not…)

Powerful Poisoning – Useless for a standard witch. This can be great if you’re doing some sort of funky Veneficus Gish build (in which case: take that Power Attack, as well as Furious Focus, I’d say.)

Quickdraw – Whip them vials of poison out ASAP! Or draw a dagger at the last second so you can provide flanking for the meatshield coming to rescue you.

Split Hex – Yes! Double the hexing, double the poisoning: this means doubling the fun! Heck – take something dumb for your level 9 feat, then retrain to get this ASAP when you hit the next level. Use your level 11 feat instead, for an Extra [Major] Hex if possible.

Useful Spells:

Same as per other witch guides. It’s worth noting, however, that this archetype gives you a fun way to pound on enemies without wasting spell slots on a heap-ton of debuffs, as many traditional witches do.

So, How Does All This Poison Hexing Work?

Think of Toxic Words as an alternate version of a “Capstone Spell”. (That term is borrowed from Taylor Hubler’s excellent guide “A Witch’s Guide to Shutting Down Enemies”. Definitely read that.) After you drop in all of your set-ups to gimp your target’s saves as much as possible – you drop in another Evil Eye or Misfortune hex via Toxic Words to add insult to (ability damage) injury. This saves you a valuable spell slot, while continuing to pound on your target via the ability damage from a poison.

The idea here is to soften up your victims with all the standard witch hexing debuffs (while Cackling), then drop that Toxic Words whammy on them; for proactive punishment even while you continue to debuff them for the rest of your party. Like I said: the purpose of the archetype is simply to give you another, fun way to punish your opponent.

Multiclass Options:

If, for some reason, you don’t like getting higher level spells, split-hexing, or major hexes: you can always multiclass. A witch loses out more with multiclassing than a Wizard or Cleric might, but you can have some fun options. Fun characters are more enjoyable than over-optimized machine characters anyway. The below assume a one level only dip, unless specifically addressed otherwise.

Brawler / Monk – Do you really need Improved Unarmed Combat that badly? Pass.

Cavalier (Beast Rider + Gendarme) – Get an Animal Companion, plus a combat feat, plus qualify for Eldritch Knight? Has possibilities, game-wise as well as roleplay. See Animal Companion section above. (Vanilla Cavaliers would be red.)

Druid – Free choice of Animal Companion, plus Wild Empathy and some minor Wis-based spells. Hunter is mechanically more useful for what you’re trying to get out of this dip.

Fighter – If you want a combat feat and Eldritch Knight that badly: just take a level of Cavalier above.

Hunter – An Animal Companion of your choice, plus the Animal Focus ability and minor Druid/Ranger spells? Not bad. Also has Martial Weapons; so you can qualify for EK, if that’s your thing. See Animal Companion section above.

Ninja – You’re taking this because you want sneaky skills. You already have Poison Use, so just go Rogue.

Ranger (Trapper archetype) – One level gives you martial weapons, Trapfinding, Wild Empathy, and a bunch of useful class skills (with skill points.) One level dip only: the 4 levels that you need to get the Animal Companion aren’t worth it. Ranger / Slayer without the Trapper archetype is not worth it, IMO.

Swashbuckler – Weapon Finesse + Martial Weapons. You probably don’t have enough Charisma to get the most out of those deeds and panache. Better than vanilla Fighter for the Dex-types, though.

[Unchained] Rogue – Strictly better than Ninja. Get a bunch of useful skills (especially Stealth and Sleight of Hand), and the ever popular Trapfinding. This adds a different feel, and wider utility to your Witch. No more than 1 level (unless you really want Arcane Trickster) – Rogue Talents and Evasion aren’t worth it.

Other Classes – Any class not listed here is strictly ill advised.

Prestige Class Options:

Arcane Trickster – In terms of role playing, I’m sure this can be a lot of fun. Witch hexes and Toxic Words seem like they would work will with this class, so go for it, if you like the idea. I’ve never been a fan, though I haven’t really investigated this class in general.

Eldritch Knight – I like the versatility that EK allows, but I like having my Major Hexes even more. Witch abilities don’t scale well outside the class, but go for it, if you want the traditional Gish. The Power Attack -> Powerful Poisoning combo can really shine here. Especially after softening up your targets with hexes. I recommend the Vital Strike feats, since you’ll probably want your move actions for Cackling.