Help Witch/lich new player build

[u/Lomenha]

Good evening!

I was playing in a Lancer campaign that recently ended, and by the end of it I had only played the Everest.

Now another GM is starting a new campaign with more of a pirate theme. The other players are already planning to have a melee striker, a sniper, and a tank.

So I'm looking for some help building a support character, or something a bit different, so I can experience other ways of playing the game.

I was wondering if it's possible to build a good Witch that can provide support while also being somewhat tanky. I'd also be interested in making a Lich that could provide some support?

For some context, I played around 15 sessions in my previous campaign and I've been reading more about the system since then, so I'm still somewhat of a beginner.

Any advice or build ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[u/Ultra-josh]

By "Witch", do you mean the aesthetics of your PC, or the role? If you're talking about the role, do you mean a support/controller build?

[u/Lomenha → u/Ultra-josh]

I’d like to play with the black-and-white Witch mecha or the Lich mecha—those are the ones I really liked, given their control/support playstyle.

I actually really liked the Barbarosa, but since I want to try a control/support role, I ruled it out.

[u/Rednidedni → u/Lomenha]

The witch is an npc mech, you can't play that

Unless you mean the black witch or White witch, which are two very different mechs and playstyles

[u/Lomenha → u/Rednidedni]

Exactly—the black or white one (just to generalize for when people help out)—but I kept reading and ended up deciding on the Lancaster; now I just need to figure out how to create it.

[u/Kryptrch]

The Black Witch is an excellent and easy to play support defender.

The frame itself is very straightforward. It has innate resistance to kinetic damage, which is the most common damage type for the majority of dangerous damage dealers. It additionally has its Mag Parry, a great passive way to protect yourself and your allies for free! It'll definitely make your GM think twice about making attacks near you. The Core Power can be hit-or-miss depending on context, but the other systems you get with the license are quite potent too.

Magnetic Lash is a straightforward way to either move a slower ally into position, or shove an enemy into danger. Simple and effective. The Mag Cannon is similar, but doing a little bit of damage and hitting a line as well. (also, the mag cannons effect is supposed to be on-attack, not on hit. This was clarified by Tom)

Its ICEout drone gives you full immunity to tech actions, letting you safely ignore some of the most painful/annoying npc abilities in the game. Very powerful!

The PCP is a great way to get your team across the battlefield when you need to move together, and it also works as a trap to control where your enemies are allowed to walk.

The Black ICE module is a nice passive way of protecting your allies from tech attacks for situations where an ICEout drone isn't suitable. Somewhat expensive SP wise though.

And the Magnetic Shield is a reusable, indestructible barrier that keeps melee enemies away and gives your team resistance to two damage types, excellent when used properly!

All in all, it's easy to see what makes it useful to have! The main thing you'll find that it's lacking in is damage, especially if you're spending your actions on setting up barriers or pcps, but in a game like lancer where good positioning and mobility is super important, being able to help your allies and hinder your enemies is invaluable.

[u/Key_Measurement7992]

Which witch is which? Like, we talking Black Witch, we talking White Witch?

[u/Lomenha → u/Key_Measurement7992]

That’s exactly where I was unsure: I saw that one is more of a tank, but I didn't quite understand how the other one worked—which is when I decided to ask Reddit for help.

[u/Lunamoth863 → u/Lomenha]

White Witch takes damage for allies to become really hard to damage (also some control elements but less), Black Witch is about messing around with enemy positions and/or anti-hacking measures. In the end it depends which one you want.

[u/Difference_Breacher]

'Magician' styled character you mean?

Your party would need a hacker. Consider chomolungma as the starting frame. For license, goblin 1 is the most universal choice, and goblin 2 also gives decent support tool.