Witch: Post-Revolution Guide

Table of Contents

I. Introduction/Basic Overview

II. Skills and Playstyles

III. Builds: PvE and PvP

IV. Gear and c3 Sets

Version updated: 08/13/2012 

Introduction/Basic Overview

Hello! My name is Wonderness and I main a witch. I've played a witch since before the first witch patch (around the time of the Priest Patch). So, for three years I've been scrubbing my way through various dungeons and arena matches. My goal today is to bring you all a better understanding of the witch class post-revolution. Without further ado let's begin!

First, let's explain the basics of the witch class. Once you hit level 20, you may take the job quest for the witch from Sharan (the mage instructor). 

Do as she asks (I believe this involves runs of Mirkwood Frost, Blazing Graqarak, Dragonoid Nest and Shadow Thunderland plus defeating her in the arena. Once all is done, you'll advance to being a witch! (Also you get a free broom). 

 Witches exclusively use broomsticks. They are a fixed class (although base attack is important for physical witchs) that utilizes intelligence to increase the power of their skills. Make sure to set your conversion skill (located under the general tab in the skill menu) to Magic. Once you advance you will gain the  Broomstick Control lvl1 skill. 

"Allows the Witch to perform various maneuvers in the air. Pressing jump while running will make the witch lift off. Running in the air lets the Witch do an aerial dash. Pressing and holding jump while in the air makes her fall slowly. She can also do a regular attack while in the air."

 You can now fly. This is accomplished by doing >> (dash) + C (jump). You may hold C to hover for a short time. You may also do the "scrubbing combo": the input for this is >>+c+xx and repeat. This combo is basically you "flying" and then quickly performing the first two attacks on your aerial combo over and over. Scrubbing is vital if not required for PvP and is an excellent way to juggle enemies when combined with a dust like Death Dust or Snow Dust.

For a visual understanding have a look at this video:

Aside from that you want to pay attention to your skills. Most of your skills, sans dusts and general skills, have a chance to "fail", "success", or "sleeper success".  As they imply, failing does less damage and may possibly put you at a disadvantage, success are average skill damage, and sleeper success does the most damage and may have special effects that help you greatly. You should prioritize skills that rant you a higher chance of sleeper success and always keep this in mind when you are creating a build. This is why the awakening passive, max befriends, and lollipop are excellent skills every witch should consider.

Skills/Playstyles

Now on to the skills you'll have to consider for your build. The witch is able to have a variety of various builds, some more useful than others but all are great to consider depending on how you want to play. Since Revolution, a ton of witch skills have been revised and improved upon and all are very viable in making a great build. I will be outlining the ones that witches use. *all descriptions are taken from the A rad Skill planner.

*As of August 1st the following changes have been made (taken directly from deonpa): 

Witch	Fusion Craft	Rate of immobilizing enemy increased
	Lava Area Potion Upgrade	Basic Attack Strength and failure Attack Strength increased
	Mega Drill	HP of Mega Drill increased, the X-axis/Y-axis pulling strength of successful Mega Drill increased, Attack Strength of successful Mega Drill increased
	Black Manteau	Attack Strength greatly increased, Blinding rate reduced
	Jackyl	Attack Strength greatly increased
	Broomstick Spin	Attack Strength greatly increased
	Death Powder	Attack Strength greatly increased
	Snow Dust	Attack Strength greatly increased
	Lollipop	Great Success Chance increased

A video of all the skills:

Common Skills:

Elemental Burn - Requires lvl5 of the following: Florae Circle, Lantern Firebomb, Frosty's Head, and Pluto. 

"Creates four orbs around the caster, each one representing a different element type. Whenever a skill of one element type is used, that element orb is activated and a symbol representing that element shows up above the caster's head. Each activated orb grants a set amount of intelligence to the caster, increasing with each orb activated."

> This skill is amazingly useful for a PvE Witch. It costs a bit of SP and it is up to you whether you are comfortable using it. It requires using the prerequisite skills (maybe some witch skills work, too; I'm not familiar with it) to light the orbs. Extra intelligence is always a good thing.

Magic Festival - The Elementalist enchants herself with a buff that increases the casting speed and shortens the cooldown and full charge time of all non-physical, non-buff skills.

> Recommended in conjunction with Magic Missile. Again, it is your preference but the combination is handy for 1v1 (especially against bosses) and it outdamages Enchanted Magic Missile in that case. 

Hired Summon: Panzer Hodor - Summons an armored Hodor to fight as an ally. 

> This guy is pretty cool in PvP. He can momentarily stun or stagger your opponent plus he acts as a distraction. Getting this one is entirely up to you. (I think you would get Lasher to buff him as well but i'm not covering that skill here).

Weapon Uppercut - Hits an enemy with your weapon to launch it upward into the air. 

> Useful for PvP and Physical Witch builds. Pop enemies up with this skill (it has great range) and then get to work scrubbing them!

Dragon Fang - Forcefully stabs an enemy with your weapon to immobilize it for a long duration. Once this skill hits, you can cancel the Dragon Fang and use Weapon Uppercut, Palm Blast, or Full Swing.

> Again, useful for PvP/Physical. Cancel into Weapon Uppercut!

Mana Shield - Consumes MP instead of HP for a certain percentage of damage received from opponents. Can be canceled by casting the skill a second time.

> I think at max level with the EX upgrade the reduction is somewhere around 23.5%. I can't remember and this skill is totally based on preference but I'm probably gonna recommend it, especially as a physical witch.  AoE don't really need it but again, it's your preference. 

Phase Shift - Teleports the Battle Mage to a nearby spot when being hit or while knocked down. The direction of the teleport can be controlled with the arrow keys.

> Level1 for PvE and you might consider maxing it for reduced cooldown for PvP, but one level is enough.

Magic Missile - Fires a magic missile. The direction of the missile can be adjusted slightly by pressing the directional key after casting. 

> Oh boy this skill is amazing. I totally recommend it in PvE. With Magic Festival (referred to as MF) I think the cooldown is reduced to half a second making this a super spammy skill. I do around 7k-30k per missile and this easily outdamages EMM during a 1v1. Great for bossing and soloing. Has a chance to 'pierce' enemies, thus hitting those behind it. 

Cheeky Doll Shururu - Tosses the doll. Shururu taunts nearby enemies into attacking it as well as lowering their magical defenses. 

> This is an excellent PvE skill. Recommended. If you decide to max this, do NOT max Jackyl (and vice versa). Both Jackyl and this maxed decreases Shururus' potential to debuff enemies and keep them encircled in your AoEs. 

Ancient Library - Increases MP regeneration using the knowledge of the ancients. If the user of this skill has Befriend Florae, it increases the MP regeneration of the entire party and increases the intelligence of a selected ally as well as the Witch herself.

> I personally like this skill but others think the int isn't worth it. I'm here to tell you that this is a good support skill for parties and both you and a party member get the int buff (which is was matters), so what have you got to lose? It only costs 400sp which is really cheap, so at least try it out! 

Disenchant - Disenchant buffed effect of nearby monsters along with their attack, moving, and casting speed. Increases STR and INT briefly according to the number of disenchanted targets.

> Recommended for PvP. Actually. no, it's critical that you get this for PvP. Go use it on a Sader or an SB <3

Class Skills:

Befriend Pluto - A passive skill that increases the performance of all dark based skills.

>Max or don't get. Only if you plan to get dark-related skills. These are: Black Manteau, Death Dust, Devolution Flyswatter, Giant Flyswatter, and Gravitas. 

Befriend Florae - Improves the performance and success rate of all Florae skills.

>All the befriends are the same; max or don't get. These are: Ancient Library, Magic Missile, Enchanted Magic Missile, Broomstick Spin, Florae Collider, and Bouncing Broomstick Spin.

Befriend Jack Frost - Improves the performance and success rate of all Jack Frost skills.

> See above. These are: Snow Dust, Acid Rain, and Mega Drill.

Befriend Jack-O'-Lantern - Improves the performances and success rate of all Jackyl skills.

> See above. These are: Jackyl, Lava Potion No. 9, and Raging Flame Furnace.

Black Manteau - Tightly wraps the enemy with a black manteau to inflict Shadow-element magic damage. Can Blind an enemy at a set rate. A Pluto Skill.

>This is strictly a utility skill so get lvl3 for prerequisites. There is also a cancel for this skill but I'd only get that for PvP.

Snow Dust - Enchants the Witch's broom with Water properties. All normal attacks, as well as Weapon Uppercut and Dragon Fang, are changed into magical attacks for the duration of this skill. A set chance to freeze targets is added. A Jack Frost skill.

> Not recommended. If you feel that you must, get the prerequisite for this skill if you want Acid Rain. Freeze is disruptive to you and others in PvE and can mess up a juggle. I've seen really good witches dominate with this skill in PvP, though.

Death Dust - Enchants the Witch's broom with Shadow properties. A set chance to poison targets is added. A Pluto skill.

> My favorite of the two dusts. I wouldn't get it beyond level1 unless you were physical/PvP though. 

Enchanted Magic Missile (EMM) - Fires a homing Magic Missile that deals neutral damage. The missiles bounce between targets, doing less damage with every bounce. The skill will do a minimum of four attacks and has a chance to electrocute enemies. Capable of fail, success, or sleeper success. A Florae skill. 

> Excellent mobbing skill and moderately spammable. Recommended for PvE but you don't have to max it. Do not get this for PvP.

Jackyl - Causes Shururu to move forward when summoned and explode after a set duration or when the skill hotkey is pressed again. The monsters dragged depends on the skill level. Capable of fail (follows you around and does nothing), success (average drag and moderate damage), and sleeper success (maximum damage). A Jack-O'-Lantern skill.

> If you max Shururu, do not max this. Instead get Level 3 prereq for Lava Potion No.9. The latest update made Jackyl deal more damage with burst so you might consider maxing this instead of Shururu; it's up to you. 

Devolution Flyswatter - Summons a giant Flyswatter to swat enemies in front of the Witch. If the enemy is killed by this skill, there is a chance that a friendly monster can be summoned. Capable of fail (summons a hunter that fights against you), success (hits enemies/might summon goblins), and sleeper success (summons either goblins or taus both of which are great). A Pluto skill.

>This skill is super fun and any Witch going dark/physical/PvP should probably max it. Try taking it to AoI :) There is also a cancel for this skill that may be useful for PvP. 

Lollipop - Increases the chance to get success and sleeper success and decreases failure rates.

> PvE Recommended. Cheap to max.

Acid Rain - Summons a cloud of rain that deals damage and lowers the defense of enemies. Can fail (do minimum damage), success (lowers defense and moderate damage), or sleeper success (summons a lightning bolt to knock down enemies, lowers defense and maximum damage). A Jack Frost skill.

>Pretty great PvE skill. I wouldn't dump a ton of points into ice just to get this skill, though. If you're going for ice, by all means you should max this. As of last patch the sleeper success knockdown has been nerfed in PvP so you might want to skip this skill for PvP.

Lava Potion No.9 - Throws a potion that lays down a pool of lava. Any enemy that steps in the lava suffers lower stats and reduced speed. Can "fail" (explodes instead of laying down a pool of lava), "success" (moderate  damage, moderate AoE, slowdown), and "sleeper success" (burns in addition to the effects of success and a large area nearly spanning an entire room). A Jackyl skill.

> Excellent skill for both PvE and PvP. I'd max this regardless of what you decide to be. I only say this because I've never seen a witch without it.

Broomstick Spin - Can only be used while mid-flight. Spins the Witch midair and lands multiple hits. The more hits it lands, the faster she spins. When she lands, she creates a shockwave that has a chance to confuse enemies and restore HP/MP. A Florae skill.

> Interesting skill. Good for PvP but it's really hard to aim. Get if you want.

Raging Flame Furnace - Pumps out flaming coals, damaging enemies. Repeatedly hitting the attack key pumps out more coals and the directional keys can be used to control where they land. The furnace explodes once it takes a certain amount of damage or after a set duration or pressing the jump key. Can fail, success, or sleeper success. A Jackyl skill.

> Great damage output and one of the tier3 skills (this, Gravitas, Mega Drill, and Florae Collider) people recommend getting. I personally hate it but whatever, objectively it's one of your best damage dealers. It is also a good skill for PvP since you can abort it and get right back to the action.

Gravitas - Creates a machine that reverses the direction of gravity. Deals damage by launching nearby enemies into the air, then hits them one more time as they come back down. The range of this skill increases as you level it. A Pluto Skill.

> My favorite tier 3 skill. Good for PvE/PvP, max it if you're going dark/physical/AoE support. 

Florae Collider - Installs a machine that generates a powerful electric field. Immobilizes enemies. Hitting the skill key quickly generates more electricity. If the machine takes enough damage it will explode. A Florae skill.

> Vital for PvE especially if you plan to do ov2/ov3. It has excellent range and can hold enemies even if they have Super Armor. I'd consider you a bad witch if you don't max this skill. Do not get for PvP.

Mega Drill - Creates a Mega Drill in the air that pounds the ground, creating a shockwave that deals damage to enemies. The Witch hops into the drill and rides it around using the directional keys. Repeatedly tapping the skill key causes attack increase and draws enemies closer. Has a "fail" (the drill explodes right after it is made), success (ride-able with a normal drillbit), sleeper success (ride-able with a drill bit made out of ice). 

> Since the last patch mega drill has received increases in damage and duration making it very viable for PvE. I'm sure some find use in PvP for this skill, too. The caveat is that it is slow and hard to control compared to the other tier3. Getting the c3 set for specifically for this skill causes it to be one of the very best skills you have.

Awakening Skills:

Passive: Lucky Feeling - After getting a success or sleeper success, has a chance to proc allowing for a higher chance of successes/sleeper successes. Maxed at level 8 lends a proc rate of 53.6%

> Max it, no question. This is more useful than Lollipop and it causes Sleeper Success chances to go up by around 9%. Freakin' awesome

Active: Fusion Craft - Uses all your familiars to summon a giant machine that immobilizes monsters with Florae and Frost as it pulverizes them with Pluto and Lantern. Has a fail, success, and higher immobilization chance.

> To be honest, this skill REALLY sucks. It costs a whopping 880sp and it does average damage and that's IF you get a sleeper success. Sure, it immobilizes enemies but Florae Collider does that (actually enemies can walk right out of Fusion Craft). Save the SP and spend it on other skills, please. 

EX Actives:

*As of revolution, these cost SP to level and not TP.

Giant Flyswatter - Smashes down a bigger flyswatter on the enemies in front of you. Summons a monster by chance when enemies hit by the flyswatter die. Decreases attack speed of your allies and enemies when summon chance fails. It increases your STR, VIT, Spirit, and INT. Int buffs do NOT stack on Giant Flyswatter. Has a higher chance to summon friendly monsters than Devolution Flyswatter.

> I enjoy this skill. If you're going dark I would get this for PvE. As a rule of thumb, you shouldn't get EX Skills for PvP at all.  Use it in AoI and laugh as your computer crashes from all the taus you summon. Again, int buffs do not stack on Flyswatter. 

Broomstick Bounce - Same description as spin but this time she bounces.

> Hard to control; does moderate damage. To get it is your choice but be aware that for one level (you can only get one) it costs 120sp. Pricey.

General Skills: 

Ancient Memory - Increases INT.

>I would get this for PvP and perhaps PvE but don't forget about Ancient Library.

Magic Crit Hit - Passive that increases the Magic Crit rate.

> Not required but if you have no where else to dump SP then go for it.

Quick Rebound - Press V when fallen to get into a crouch position

> Absolutely required.

Now for the playstyles. Witches can have a variety of builds. There are two types of play: PvE/PvP and then two main types of Witch - AoE/Physical. PvE Witches usually gravitate toward AoE (specifically support AoE; there's also burst and hybrids) and PvP Witches are almost all physical or some hybrid/physical. 

AoE (Area of Effect) refers to Witches who utilize staying behind the line of fire and firing off EMM, spamming her Shururu to draw enemies, then AoEs like lava and acid rain to debilitate them. They will then either use MM, Support skills like AM and AL, or use their tier3s. Burst AoEs might consider Jackyl instead of Shururu and hybrids might like to scrub+dust while mobs are hurting from AoE debuffs. This playstyle is almost exclusively PvE. 

Physical witches love to scrub, use disenchant, scrub some more, flyswat, pop their enemies up using gravitas or weapon uppercut, slow their enemies down using lava potion, using broomstick spin to cover the map, and ice car. 

Now let's move on to builds.

Builds: PvE and PvP

These should work with a few tweaks to your liking. Most generic builds consist of 2 or 3 maxed befriends, your passive, AL or AM, skills of those elements, and 2 or 3 tier3 skills.

* Major indicates most sp dumped into that element set of skills and minor indicates a skill or two.

 **Right-click open in new tab.**

PvE Builds:

Support AoE: Dark/Light major Fire minor (PvE)

Standard AoE: Light/Fire major Ice minor (PvE)

Hybrid AoE: Dark/Ice major Fire minor

4 element build (Maribo): All four elements (PvE)

3 element build with light minor (Maribo): Try it out? (PvE)

*adding more soon

PvP Builds:

Standard Physical: Dark/Fire major Light minor (PvP)

Broom Sweep Build (Maribo) *needs disenchant*: Here it is (PvP)

*adding more soon 

Gear and c3 sets

As a whole, witches are pretty easy to gear. Slap on some leather and grab your nicest broom and you're ready to go. With the inclusion of Magic Sealed Gear you'll definitely want to get Intelligence, Spirit, and Magic Crit. Consider special coversions like Armor Break. You may also enchant your gear with beads. I'd recommend Moth Queen beads for the Weapon, Top, and Shoulder. Perhaps you may want to obtain a set; the set I have currently is the Lucky Crossed Set (65-70) and it grants all tier3s a +1 skill.

End-game, you'll want to obtain a pink broom if you can, although a decently +'d magic sealed will do the trick. I have a Dark Witch's Broom (Level 65) but the one with the highest base attack (of the two level 65 pinks) is the Titanic Flier. 

As for accessories you'll want to get ones that boost int (obviously). There's elemental epic rings that could be useful but I think the most useful accessory is the Ancient Elven Ring. It is in your best interest to get this accessory.

Ancient Elven Ring

55

2083

Str + Int +20

Magic attacks with a 6% chance of buffing your intelligence by 9% for 30 seconds.

Now for the c3 sets which is obtain from Otherverse 3 (Void Rift, Bakal's Castle, and Darkside). These are hard to get but WELLLLL worth it. Credit to people on DFOS for finding them.

Go here to see the sets.

As for avatars get:

Hair/Hat: Int
Face/Torso: Abnormal Resist or Atk Spd (< I say speed because they sell easier if you plan to sell them)
Top: Tier 3 skill/your choice
Bottom: MP/Def/Skill of your choice
Shoe: Movement Speed
Waist: Evasion

Emblems to get include:

Red: Int
Green: Mag Crit (I forget what else is green emblem)
Blue: Defense/Movement Speed/Hit Rate 
Yellow: Casting Speed
Platinum: Town Speed+Allstats/If you somehow find a witch skill

Happy scrubbing!