Hello and welcome to my first build guide. I've been wanting to do a Winter Witch for a while, but the limited spell list was a huge letdown. Now that we got some love with new cold spells, I've decided it is time to do it!

If this guide helped you in any way, feel free to give it a positive rating and/or add it to your favorites! if you see anything wrong, please let me know and I'll be happy to edit it accordingly.

This is a theme-focused build. As such, I avoided multiclassing and made flavour choices to keep the theme of the character (of only using the cold spells).

Yes, I am aware Crossblooded and Loremaster exist. I know Lich Witch is stronger. I know Hellfire Ray does more damage.

Sometimes you just wanna play some cool, thematic character, and not a weird mix of several different classes, or whatever someone said would be the "best dps", you know? It's a roleplaying game after all.

That being said, the build is optimized enough to be played and finish the game comfortably on Hard or below, assuming good game knowledge and party formation, of course. This is not a "solo one-shot bosses" build.

If you need help with the puzzles, check my other guide:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2968096295

OBS: There's a reason we don't take more Winter Witch levels. At WW 8, you get a passive that converts half of your cold damage into direct damage, which can't be resisted and bypass any immunities. That sounds good on paper, but it is actually redundant since we already get ascendant element early. So we would be hurting our dps just for 1 extra DC we'd get at WW 10, totally not worth it.

Spells

Except for the cold spells, most of those are suggestions and you should pick according to what your party needs. Don't forget to check vendors first so you can learn more spells from scrolls before picking those during level up.

Mythic Feats and Superpowers:


Important Azata Mythic Spells

OBS: Don't worry about the "you can't cast spells of this level" message. That is actually a visual bug. You don't need CHA to cast those spells. Just rest when you get a new level and all spells will be there.

A list of the best equipment for the build. Use whatever else you can find until you get the good stuff. Most of your build comes from Act 3.

* The knife can be destroyed or lost via your mythic choices or story events, so be careful.
** You need to have saved the guy from the vescavors during the assault on Leper's Smile in act 2.

For this to work, you need someone in your party using the White Dragon armor (Act 3, Areelu's Laboratory), ideally other backline character since the range is quite small. Another thing you can do is taking the Enforced Vigor mythic feat on the character using the White Dragon armor, so they will always be buffing other party members with a +2 mythic bonus on attack and damage rolls, and a +1 mythic bonus on all saving throws.

* Wait until someone from Chilly Creek comes to your city asking you to visit them again. Then go there and explore the bottom right corner of the map for some enemies.
* You need to ask Deval for payment during the quest (pick the option "You can't survive on thanks alone") or kill him.


Last Sarkorians DLC exclusive items:


To get the belt, you need to keep the relic for yourself when choosing its outcome after finishing Ulbrig's quest. Then, take the relic to the Storyteller and ask him to convert it to a belt. The amulet is also a great option (+2 damage per die and +2 DC, among others), but the hit bonus helps a lot more for the endgame than pure damage.

Other notable items:

There are two weapons that can apply vulnerability to cold (enemy takes 50% more cold damage). Both items require a two-weapon fighting build to pull off, which is quite feat-starving. If you have room in your party for those items, awesome. If not, no big deal. It's not mandatory in any way.


As you can see, their DC are not that high. You might need to reduce enemies' saves for them to stick if you're playing on core or higher.

NOTE: I've covered most of the big spoilers for first-time players. It still spoils a lot of places and fights, so here's a warning for new players to not read too much ahead of where you are.

You are essentially a buff/hex bot. Spam Protective Luck on your tank/pet and that should carry you through the whole prologue. Hell, the whole first act actually. Spam your Snowball and elemental ray. Otherwise, slot some crowd control and support spells for your martial characters and call it a day. Loot everything and use every potion and scroll you can find. Don't be shy. And do remember that you are very squishy, so don't go wandering in the front row. Right click your elemental ray to make it your auto-attack.

As soon as we hit level 3, we marry our Winter's Grasp spell. That will be our bread and butter spell for most of the game. With Elemental Focus + Flow of Water ring, Winter's Grasp will have a DC of 22 at level 3. Not too shabby. For the first 9 levels or so, you will mostly use it as crowd control. After getting some cold spells, you'll be using it as a opener to reduce enemies' DC against your damage spells.

Here's how Winter's Grasp turned one tricky prologue fight into a joke:


In order to unlock the Azata path, you need to prevent Hulrun from killing Ramien on the Market Square before the attack on Defender's Heart. This can be done by showing him the light of heaven twice and convincing him to exile Ramien instead, or by killing Hulrun. Either way, after you've solved their feud, go to the Desna chapel on the top of the map, pick the [chaotic] option to sing with the Desnan initiates and then pick the [Azata] choice on the book event.

For levels 4-5, apply Selective Metamagic on Winter's Grasp and keep playing the same way with your crowd control and hexes as needed. Before going to the gray garrison, make sure to slot at least one Delay Poison Communal, because ♥♥♥♥ Dretches. You should hit level 6 right before (if you've done everything else) or after the last fight on the garrison. Minagho should not be a problem for you. Remember that any CC will have 100% hit chance, so keep her and her minions locked and rush her down.

At level 6 (start of Act 2) we get our first point into Winter Witch, as well as Ascendant Element: Cold. Now the game has officially started for us.

Gargoyles will be your sworn enemies during this act. Winter's Grasp does nothing to them. Use other spells and pray your melee fighters are good enough. Tip: they are not immune to poison... ;)

Before going to Leper's Smile, make sure you have a potion of Cure Serious Wounds in your inventory, or someone in your party who can cast it. During the assault, you will come across a halfling in danger close to where the last fight takes place, as seen in the image here. Make sure you pass the checks to save and cure him (this is important!). This will reward you with a great weapon in Act 4.

You should hit level 8 during the Lost Chapel map. If you want to recruit Arueshalae early, make sure to do the desna altar puzzle while you're there.

During your initial assault on Drezen, be careful with the Votarys. Make them face the ground before they can cast their nasty combo and you should be fine. Even the two minibosses (tavern and temple) will be no match for the slippery ice patch. Won't work on the Balor boss though, but you can still use it to lower its saves and then use your damage spells (don't forget your rods!). Toss an Evil Eye and have Protection from Fire up (you might still lose someone). For the last fight, inside the keep, focus down Staunton first and the rest should be fine.


Here we have two main objectives: Areelu's Lab for the mythic point and first superpower, and Wintersun for the juicy gear. Since Azata gets to go to Areelu's lab earlier than other paths (follow your Azata specific quest), we make haste to grab our superpower for an early power spike. Then do some companion quests and other maps to hit 11 before going to Wintersun.

At 11, we get a core damage spell: Cone of Cold. This is the moment we've been waiting for. Winter's Grasp + Cone of Cold, along with Favorable Magic, means enemies will have a hard time resisting our spells. And we also have Icy Prison for those hard-hitting enemies.

Here's a little demonstration on some tough Wintersun fights:

Shaken comes from a Bard using Dirge of Doom. You should have one. They rock.

The high DC on Icy Prison + Favorable Magic makes every enemy in Ivory Sanctum useless, even the bs mythic ones. Remember that you can use coup de grace on enemies paralyzed by Icy Prison. ;) Xanthyr is immune, but you can trip him with winter's grasp so he doesn't do anything. And you have more than enough aoe damage for the swarms.

After returning to Drezen from Ivory Sanctum, you'll have an exclusive Azata dialogue choice to attack the Midnight Fane faster, without waiting for the queen. Make sure to finish everything you want on the chapter right away. If you have Ulbrig, there are a couple of great equipment on his quest, including +2 Evocation DC bracers and Maximize Metamagic Rod. The Skeleton Merchant also sells some rods if you ask him to bring magical items.

When you're ready, return to Drezen and start the attack. The only real enemy in the Fane will be the last boss, with its sky-high resistances. Icy Prison will be hard to land, so your best shot will probably be opening with Winter's Grasp and then the usual Cold Ice Strike+Cone of Cold (and rods) every turn while your tank suffers getting hit. There's also Playful Darkness if you're a masochist...

First of all: make your way to the tavern. There you will find an NPC named Familiar Face. Talk to him to receive the Ashmaker staff and equip it right away before you start killing demons left and right.

Another important thing to mention in the lower city is the Battlebliss Arena. By talking to the arena healer, you can accept a Demongraft for 30k gold. It gives you some great permanent bonuses: +2 AC, +2 to checks to overcome spell resistance, +2 DC to your spells and +2 to attack and damage rolls. However, there's a big catch... if you get to below 20% health, you get into a frenzy, losing control of your character until it dies or combat ends. The bonuses are great, true, but you are still a glass cannon to begin with, so think very carefully if you wanna accept this. I didn't. Nenio can also receive it if you have her with you, which is probably a better idea.

Moving on to the middle city, Mutasafen will be a huge pain in the ass. Before starting the fight, drop 2 rainbow domes (fire and acid) in the middle and keep everyone inside. This will give you a fighting chance against his 10+ bombs per turn. Hopefully he won't focus you, so you can move a little bit to the side and nuke him with your cold spells (icy prison won't work). Having someone to dispel his buffs will also help a lot. I dropped two blade barriers on top of him and filled the field with summons. Yes, cheese, but so is his infinite bomb spam.

When visiting the fleshmarkets, don't forget to buy greater rods from Krebus (you should probably already have maximized and quickened). If you're doing a two-bladed sword build as suggested in the equipment section, buy the Winter's Mark from Wirlong. When you pay a visit to Shamira on the Harem, DON'T show her your dagger. She will just take it from you.

During the quest to rescue Aivu, I strongly recommend you kill as many enemies from the flesh market as you can before you enter the hideout. If you don't do this, you will have to fight the entire flesh market at once when you get out. Believe me, you don't want that. That's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

Make sure to buy anything you need from the vendors and finish related quests before you kill them.

Avoid the beholder in the middle, because they will trigger the whole place to fight. It's easier to leave them for last, after you've rescued Aivu, since you'll have a nice buff for the fight. After clearing the place, enter the hideout and proceed normally. Make sure Aivu doesn't die during the fight to avoid possible bugs. Buff with all you have and go out for the big moment.

During the fight, focus down the big reaper-like guards! You can keep 2 of them in place with 2 Icy Prison casts using a quickened rod. That should buy you enough time to rush them with your martials. The beholder guy will need some dispel casts, so keep him busy while you clear the other enemies. To avoid possible bugs I've seen some people had, keep the venture captain NPC alive, and try to keep Aivu alive too, you'll need her to finish the quest afterwards. It's possibly the hardest fight so far so give it all you got. Took me a few tries.

After completing enough quests around Alushinyrra, Nocticula will pay you a visit. Go talk to her to have some revelations and receive your next mythic point. And remember: now you can ride Aivu! Finish everything you have pending in the city before venturing to Colyphyr. Don't forget your companions' quests. If you've never done it before, take Ember with you so she can talk to Nocticula. You won't regret it.

During your visit on Colyphyr, stop by the Fulsome Queen and accept her deal. The dragon should not be a problem for you with 2 Polar Rays + rods per turn. As seen here in this image, we have so many bonuses that we don't even need a dispel to hit with Polar Ray, even with a roll of 4.

You'll meet Mutasafen again towards the end of the dungeon, but this time it will be easier since you won't be ambushed with enemies all around you. When you get to the end (I won't spoil what happens), you'll have the option of accepting Nocticula's Profane Gift: +6 to your highest stat and +4 to your second highest stat (INT and DEX, in this case). You can refuse it for roleplaying reasons if you want, but the buff is too good to pass. You'll also get your next mythic point there.

Before you return to the Nexus, go back to the Fulsome Queen via the elevator to finish her quest. If you haven't done it before, this will be a tough fight. Try to block the small passage with your tank/melee so enemies get stuck there while you blast them down. Polar Midnight will be great here if you manage to fit it without hitting your party. Be careful with your left side as more enemies can approach from there.

If you want, you can also accept the Fulsome Queen's Unclean gift: +2 CON, +2 natural armor, and 50% chance of treating critical hits or sneak attacks against you as normal hits. However, you also receive a -4 on CHA due to foul stench and appearance. I really don't recommend you take it. CON and armor are not that great for you anyway, and reducing your persuasion checks will be really bad, trust me.

You should have more than enough damage, spell pen, and save DC for everything here. If you've made it this far, that means the rest of your party can also pull their own weight. So, congrats, the end is near!

Main story quests here can be done at any order, so this will just be my suggested route.

Time to meet an old buddy. Head southwest-ish of Drezen (below Blackwater) to find Pulura's Fall. Enter the cave and keep going until you get to the fountain puzzle. You can check the solution in my puzzle solutions guide if you want. Get down through the now opened path to find a book that can give you a permanent +2 to INT. Head back upstairs and buff before going to the upper room. There, you'll find our buddy Mutasafen. You can let him go if you want... but why? He should be no problem for you. In this screenshot you can see our damage with a Polar Ray at the moment: 22d6 at lvl 17. You can follow up with a cold ice strike or quickened polar ray for around 400-500 damage. He should be dead in one or two turns.

You might wanna do Ineluctable Prison after, which should be easy enough if you've been following this guide.

Following your mythic quest, you will be called to check on your court. Finish everything else first. As soon as you get there, be prepared for one of the hardest fights in the game. Defeating Mephistopheles will require some hard work and preparation. I recommend being level 19 for max spell penetration. You will need it.

After entering your court, don't get too close yet. Drop some winter's grasp + polar midnight (selective, of course) and any other field aoes you have on your party. It also helps using some summons, because that will force Meph to waste his initial turn dismissing them, which might give you some time before his own summons start to appear. His fire attacks will hit you regardless of what you do, because he has the ascendant element feat. Your best defense will be using spells to increase your max health (like false life). You should have someone dispelling him if you want to actually hit, along with some good aoe damage on your party do deal with his summons as fast as possible (ideally in one or two turns) while you keep spamming him with Polar Rays.

As you can see on my screenshot, I've used a bunch of blade barriers to keep the summons away, and positioned my melee close by to finish off anyone who manages to cross alive. You will still need some luck here, but you should be able to finish him in around 4 turns if the stars align (or before Last Stand ends lol).

As a reward, you'll receive another mythic level. After getting the favorite metamagic mythic feat, apply it to all of your damage spells. You can have level 6 filled with selective spells, level 7 with selective+bolstered, and level 9 with selective Polar Midnight (and a couple of bolstered Polar Rays). Now you won't ever hit your party!

Last stop is Iz. The place should be easy enough for your lvl 20 party. Here's how it went for me:

Poor lord of locusts... he just sat there summoning swarms.

If you've accepted Nocticula's profane gift, she will pay you a visit to give you another gift. Equip it. During this dungeon, you will have one big enemy: Gallu Stormcallers. Do your best to focus them down fast to avoid getting all sorts of aoes to the face. Ice Prison won't work on them, but should be easy to land on any other enemy. The other mobs shouldn't be a problem for the rest of your party.


Now, for the final boss... I can only wish you good luck. It was hell. I have a couple of suggestions.


Before going in, buff yourself with anything that can help with persuasion skill checks, like the Believe in Yourself - Charisma and Moral Support spells. This will help with a DC 50 intimidation/diplomacy check to avoid the second phase of the fight. Take off your goggles, they have a persuasion penalty. And I do hope you've refused the Fulsome Queen's unclean gift... Following these steps, and assuming you don't have other buffs from your party, you should have a persuasion of 43, as seen in the picture. This includes the familiar, the +8 headband Nocticula gives you, and the first mythic ability choice (Bit of Fun). You'll need to roll a 7, which should be fairly easy since you'll roll twice with favorable magic.

As soon as the conversation starts, see if you pass an Arcana check. If you don't see that option, reload. Also keep in mind that Moral Support has a low duration of 3 rounds, and you should have it up when the fight is over to help with the persuasion check.

Now, for the fight, you should have Aivu dispelling (ideally with someone else) or you'll have a really hard time hitting with anything. Even then, you'll have to deal with her natural miss chance. If you have the Devouring Lust rod from act 3, it can bypass her incorporeal status a few times. Try to keep your characters away from each other and spam her with everything you have. You'll miss a lot, but hopefully you will hit enough to bring her down.

Don't forget your Azata spells! Heroes Never Surrender (lvl 7) and Joy of Life (6) can recover your party spell slots, Moral Support (5) and Unbreakable Bond (7) can raise your saving throws. Remember that Areelu will heal herself to full whenever she gets to half HP. And she will do it twice. Yeah... use everything you have.

After the first phase, pick the "I've uncovered your plan!" dialog option. Then, you can try a DC check to convince her to stop fighting. I hope you pass it. If you fail, you'll have to deal with the second phase.

For this phase, you just have to survive 4 rounds, so get your MC as far away from everyone as you can, spam mass heals, summons, I don't know, whatever you can do to survive. As soon as the 5th round starts, the fight will be over.

If by some miracle you manage to endure, congratulations, you've won!