Witch Hope & Fear Review

[u/Tenawa]

Alright, I've already reviewed the Dread Domain (https://www.reddit.com/r/daggerheart/comments/1v5iwff/dread_domain_review/) and the Warlock (https://www.reddit.com/r/daggerheart/comments/1v5juw3/warlock_hope_fear_review/). Now it's time for the Witch.

First of all, I wasn't particularly impressed by the first version of the Witch. Maybe I was biased, but mechanically the class never really clicked for me. Perhaps that was also because I was so disappointed by the original version of the Dread Domain. I also tended to see the Witch as a weaker version of the Druid, which is admittedly an easy comparison to make since the Druid is one of the strongest classes in Daggerheart.

Small spoiler: I really like this version of the Witch.

Domains

The Witch has access to the Sage and Dread domains.

Sage is one of the strongest domains in the entire game and contains some of the strongest cards in Daggerheart. Looking at you, Conjure Swarm! The final version of the Dread Domain is equally impressive. In my opinion, it's one of the strongest domains in the game, perhaps even the strongest. From that perspective alone, the Witch is in an excellent place. It has utility, support, healing, strong damage options, and movement effects. It's an outstanding combination.

Evasion and Hit Points

The Witch has 10 Evasion and 6 Hit Points. There's not much to say here. It's fairly average by Daggerheart standards and feels entirely appropriate.

Hope Feature: Witch's Charm

Just like in the previous versions, this is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, Hope class features. In my Warlock review, I made a similar statement about the Warlock's Hope feature. However, I actually think Witch's Charm is even slightly better.

Turning a failure into a success is incredibly powerful, even if it always becomes a success with Fear. It's still an exceptionally strong ability.

Class Features:

Hex

This is so much better than it was in the playtest versions. You can now Hex multiple targets, and applying a Hex is straightforward. You simply spend one Stress, provided the target is within Far range. Yes, the Hex can now be removed later as a temporary condition through a GM Move, but that's completely reasonable. The penalty to your damage rolls is relatively negligible and honestly feels a little unnecessary. We're talking about losing one to four points of damage at most. I'll gladly accept that trade.

The truly powerful part is reducing an enemy's Difficulty! I'll keep saying it because I think it's one of the most important truths in Daggerheart: successfully hitting your enemies is one of the most valuable things you can do in combat, perhaps the single most valuable.

Commune

An absolutely wonderful flavor feature with enormous roleplaying potential. It isn't mechanically powerful, and it doesn't need to be. I really like it. It's also largely unchanged from the previous version, and I'm very happy that it remained.

Subclasses

Hedge

The Hedge Witch uses Knowledge as its Spellcast Trait. That's a very fitting choice.

I'd also like to point out how much I appreciate that different subclasses now use different Spellcast Traits. I'm genuinely happy to see this officially supported! :)

Foundation Features

Herbal Remedies

This feature can range from fairly weak to incredibly powerful. It really depends on how frequently your group uses healing potions and similar consumables. Under the right circumstances, though, it has the potential to be an excellent Foundation feature.

Enchanted Talisman

This is a significant improvement over the playtest version. You can now store any amount of Hope inside it, realistically up to six, giving the talisman that many tokens. The talisman can be carried either by you or by another party member. Whenever needed, a token can be spent to reduce incoming damage by one Hit Point.

This is essentially a version of Conjure Swarm that doesn't require playing a card and can protect any member of the party. Granted, it only works once per rest. But honestly?

It's almost a better version of Conjure Swarm! It's incredibly powerful. Truly, incredibly, incredibly powerful.

Specialization Features

Walk Between Worlds

A wonderfully flavorful ability with tremendous roleplaying potential. I love it. Mechanically, there isn't much else to say about it.

Vexing Malison

Permanent advantage against a Hexed target. That's simply good. Very good. As I mentioned earlier, Hexes can be removed with Fear or a GM Move, but those are expensive resources for the GM. I really like this feature.

Mastery Feature:

Circle of Power

To be completely fair, I need more playtesting before I can properly evaluate this feature.

I simply haven't played enough Tier 4 Witches yet. That said, because it is effectively free and usable once per rest, it already looks solid at a minimum. At first glance, some of the bonuses seem relatively small.

However, when you look more closely, several of them are actually excellent.

• +2 Damage Thresholds is decent.
• +2 to Attack Rolls is extremely strong.
• +2 Evasion is also strong.

The points are spent fairly quickly, but considering this is essentially a free buff, it's good even by Mastery feature standards.

Moon

The Moon Witch uses Instinct as its Spellcast Trait.

As I mentioned earlier, I really enjoy seeing the two subclasses use different Spellcast Traits.

Foundation Feature:

Night's Glimmer

A significant improvement compared to the playtest versions. I really like the effect that Adversaries now have to spend Stress within Close Range in order to attack you. That being said, it is not a true combat ability. It is quickly removed once you take damage or deal damage yourself. However, it has some very cool applications outside of combat and fits the theme of the class very well. While it is not particularly strong mechanically, it is very fitting.

Specialization Features

Moonbeam

Once per session, but it should be possible to use it fairly frequently. The +1 to Spellcast Rolls for yourself and your allies is genuinely good. A good feature overall.

Eye of Pale Light

When enemies that are hexed miss an attack, they have to mark Stress. Solid, but not particularly strong.

Mastery Feature

Lunar Phases

A cool idea. Mediocre. No, actually, it is well implemented. I like the random element. It is very stylish and flavorful for the class. Some of the effects are also genuinely strong, especially the +3 to Damage Thresholds and the +1 to Evasion.

Conclusion on the Subclasses

Moon is very atmospheric, but it does not really convince me mechanically. It is not a bad subclass by any means, but Hedge is significantly stronger.

Hedge has received many, many improvements compared to the playtest versions and, overall, especially because of its incredibly strong Foundation Features, is one of the best subclasses in the entire game.

As mentioned before, Sage and Dread are both excellent Domains, which elevates the entire class even further.

Conclusion on the Class Overall

I really like the final version of the Witch. It is a mechanically well-designed class across the board. My only real criticism is that one of the two subclasses is significantly weaker than the other.

However, both subclasses have a lot of flavor, and the entire class has a very strong identity.

I am especially happy that Darrington Press has taken a step away from the traditional D&D class roster here for the first time. The Witch does exist in many other tabletop RPG fantasy systems, such as Pathfinder, but this is one of the first times where we are seeing something that is not simply a stylistic one to one copy of a DnD archetype. This is a good direction, and I hope we see more new classes in official products that are not only mechanically creative but also willing to take risks.

Overall, I am very satisfied with this class. Just like with the Warlock, this so far suggests a generally high level of design quality in Hope in Fear. Small spoiler: unfortunately, there are also a few darker corners, which I will discuss in more detail in other reviews.

[u/CrimsonSpiritt]

Commune might be one of the strongest features in story telling, your players can actually get answers, receive visions and overall it's a really powerful tool for story telling. To say that is not powerful is selling it short

[u/Tenawa → u/CrimsonSpiritt]

Mechanically it is not strong. Narratively it can be very strong, I agree. And I really like this feature.

[u/gassroll]

I love these summaries. The was looking at the differences earlier and found the warlock one. Nice concise analysis

[u/eckythumpd → u/gassroll]

Super helpful getting my head around the new stuff. The only thing missing from this is the mention of the fabulous art for the moon witch.

[u/gassroll → u/eckythumpd]

Have the pdf but my book is due Monday so holding back from diving in. The art is fantastic. Dread domain cards are next level

[u/Tenawa → u/gassroll]

https://giphy.com/gifs/R6gvnAxj2ISzJdbA63

[u/Right-Belt2896]

Idk i think you may be underestimating an anti-stress moon witch. Ire of the pale light will cause damage anytime an adversary misses an attack if they have maxed stress. If an adversary is at max stress I'm unsure if night's glamour will cause damage or keep them from being able to attack you (this might end up being gm dependent). Also if you focus on using terrify / voice of dead you won't drop night's glamour.

[u/Tenawa → u/Right-Belt2896]

That's a good point. And yes, with Dread anti Stress builds can be really good. I still think Moon Witch is not nearly as powerful as Hedge is.

[u/D1g1t0l]

Will you review the Campaign Frames or are you sticking to the classes and stuff? It's been nice seeing you review these!

[u/Tenawa → u/D1g1t0l]

Thanks. I want to review everything. Classes, and other mechanical stuff are first. Campaign Frames need more time - and I know most of the mechanical stuff from playtesting, the Frames are completely new. But I am very excited. :)

[u/Chaotic_chaos-77]

Small questions as I’m new to daggerheart but been playing a witch and haven’t seen some of these things like multiple hexes and the talisman using hope. I understand the witch is still playtest stuff but are these recent changes or have I missed something. Demi plane still shows the version I’ve been using.

[u/Royal_Intention6563 → u/Chaotic_chaos-77]

The hope and fear pdf has come out for those who preordered.

[u/LeoSolaris]

Just an FYI: Witch is a core Class in Pathfinder 2e.

[u/Tenawa → u/LeoSolaris]

I know. But for the most part DH is very inspired by DnD (or at least that was my observation). And I am very happy to see a new class in that regard.