Ember Build Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous Guide – In this Ember Build Guide, I’m going to break down the best Attributes, Skills, Feats, Spells, Hexes, Mythic Path, and Equipment you should take to make the most out of this character. You’ll also have the ability to buff and heal your allies. I’ll be showing an optimized Build that involves her default Stigmatized Witch Archetype, which is paired with the Crossblooded Sorcerer. If you’re looking for ways to severely weaken enemies while dealing great damage with Negative Energy and Fire Spells, then this Ember Build Guide is for you.

Ember Build Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous Guide

For Ember’s Build, you’ll want to improve her usage of Necromancy Spells coupled with Hexes. At earlier levels, it’s good to start casting Slumber to immediately debilitate your target, followed by using harmful Spells against them. Note that this is effective against Humans but not so much against other creatures. Because of this, you’ll have to try other Spells like Glitterdust to blind them or Ray of Exhaustion to impose penalties on their Attributes. Additionally, we’ll also explore the benefits of Conjuration Spells and other Hexes to buff and heal the party.

Ember’s Spellcasting Ability is Charisma, which is different from the Witch Class. But unlike Wizards, Witch’s are spontaneous casters so you don’t need to prepare their Spells beforehand. Instead, you’re able to cast these depending on how many available Spell uses you have for the day. This is then replenished after taking a rest.

By the time you meet her at Level 3, she would automatically possess the following Feats, Proficiencies, Abilities and Hexes:

• Point-Blank Shot and Precise Shot – Gains +1 Attack and Damage Roll Bonuses for Ranged Touch Attacks, otherwise known as Ray Spells. With Precise Shot, you’re able to remove the -4 penalty that you would normally receive when you use these Spells to hit an enemy who is engaged in Melee.
• Slumber – Puts the target to sleep if they fail their Will Saving Throw Roll or Save for several rounds equivalent to your Witch’s current level. Remember to attack the others first because damaging the enemy who is asleep, will wake them up.
• Raven Familiar – Raises the bonuses you receive for your Persuasion and Perception Checks by +3 and +2, respectively.
• Simple Weapon Proficiency – Allows you to wield Simple Weapons like Quarterstaves and Heavy and Light Crossbows.
• Blackened – Receives multiple Fire Spells such as Burning Hands, Scorching Ray, and Burning Arc due to your blackened and sensitive hands. As a result, you incur a -4 penalty on all Weapon Attack Rolls, which means that it’s not encouraged to fight against enemies using Ranged Weapons.
• Vulnerability Curse – Removes the Energy Resistances (ER) and Immunities of a target for several rounds. ER works in the same way as Damage Reduction (DR) except that the type of resistance being reduced is elemental such as Fire and Cold Damage.

At Level 5, you’re going to multiclass with the Crossblooded Sorcerer, which has the same Spellcasting Ability as Ember’s, to gain a Bonus Feat as well as two Bloodlines. Afterward, we’ll continue leveling up the Stigmatized Witch Archetype to unlock a special Hex for our allies. As a Level 1 Crossblooded Sorcerer, you receive the following:

• Sorcerer Proficiencies – Gain the same Simple Weapon Proficiency although you’re still not proficient with any Armor or Shield as these limit the gestures you make when casting Spells.
• Cantrips – Receive Cantrips or Level 0 Spells that don’t require any preparation to cast them. Examples of these include Acid Splash and Ray of Frost, which you can use as finishers to eliminate enemies with low HP.
• Sorcerer Bonus Feat (Combat Casting) – Receives a +4 Concentration Check Bonus when you’ve been threatened as you’re casting a Spell. It lets you continue with this activity since you’re able to overcome the interruption. The earlier versions of some of your Spells like Inflict Wounds, require you to be within their Melee Range. As such, Combat Casting is important because you become vulnerable to your target’s Attacks of Opportunity when you’re near them.
• Draconic Bloodline – Red – Improves the damage you deal with Fire Spells. This also adds Perception to your Skills.
• Elemental Bloodline – Fire – Adds Mobility to your list of Skills.

Attributes | Ember Companion Build Pathfinder WotR

Starting at Level 4 and after every four levels, you’ll be able to add 1 point to any of your Attributes. With Ember, you’ll only improve one Attribute and that’s Charisma. Charisma is the Stigmatized Witch’s Spellcasting Ability, which allows Ember to learn and cast numerous Spells.

It’s also the modifier that’s added to the Spell’s Difficulty Class (DC), which enemies need to overcome to lessen or negate the Spell’s impact. After allocating 5 points into this Attribute, you ought to have 22 Charisma with a +6 modifier. You can further boost this by equipping headgear like the Headband of Alluring Charisma.

Skills | Ember Companion Build Pathfinder WotR

In terms of Ember’s Skills, you’ll primarily focus on raising Mobility and Persuasion. Mobility allows you to move carefully in between enemies without getting hit due to their Attacks of Opportunity. On the other hand, Persuasion, which is naturally high thanks to your good Charisma, helps you negotiate, intimidate or persuade NPCs to agree with your line of thinking.

You can then opt to increase Knowledge (Arcana) or Lore (Religion) because of the initial bonuses you gain with these two. Knowledge (Arcana) helps make unidentified and rare magical objects known, which may be in the form of powerful Weapons or Armor. Meanwhile, Lore (Religion) increases your knowledge about extraplanar realms particularly those associated with religion. This is helpful in Combat when you need more information such as the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses to defeat them.

Feats | Ember Companion Build Pathfinder WotR

From Levels 5 to 20, you’ll be able to choose 8 Feats for Ember with 1 Feat at every other level. You’ll focus on dealing Necromancy Spells and mostly Conjuration Spells to support the party.

Starting at Level 5, you ought to take these important Feats in the following order:

• Spell Penetration – Improve your chances of breaking through the target’s Spell Resistance by gaining a +2 Caster Level Check Bonus.
• Greater Spell Penetration – Receive an additional +2 Caster Level Check Bonus. The bonus from this Feat stacks with Spell Penetration.
• Spell Focus (Necromancy) – Makes it tougher for enemies to reduce or negate the effects of your Necromancy Spells due to its higher Spell DC. Note that this only applies to Spells that force enemies to roll for Saves like Boneshaker and Inflict Wounds.
• Greater Spell Focus (Necromancy) – Provides you with an additional +1 Spell DC for Necromancy Spells.
• Dodge – Gains +1 Dodge Bonus for your AC.
• Metamagic (Heighten Spell) – Increases your Spell’s level, which improves your Spell DC as well. For example, if you were to heighten Ray of Exhaustion’s level from 3 to 8, its DC will be boosted from 21 to 26, which is 5 levels higher than the original. This makes it much harder for enemies to become fatigued rather than exhausted.

Unlike the Metamagic (Empower Spell), you can heighten any of Ember’s Spells. You’re even able to replicate copies of your favorites per level without any consequences. So if you enjoy casting Enervation or Scorching Ray, then make sure to heighten it for each of the higher levels.

You can heighten Spells by going to Ember’s Spellbook Tab and clicking ‘Metamagic’ at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. Add a Spell in the middle square of the big circle by double-clicking on the icon or by dragging it. Click the “Sword Icon” on top of this and then select “Write spell” at the bottom.

• Toughness – Raises your max HP.
• Improved Critical (Ray) – Doubles your Ray Spell’s threat range to push you closer to performing Critical Hits. Afterward, you still have to make another Attack Roll to confirm this Critical Hit. For the purposes of this Feat, Ray Spells are treated as Ranged Weapons.

Spells | Ember Companion Build Pathfinder WotR

What makes Ember powerful is her versatility in terms of switching between different types of Spells. For instance, she can destroy regular enemies with Necromancy Spells or Fire Spells. And Hexes go very well with these since it debilitates them quite easily. Since you’ll also face the Undead, you’ll need secondary Spells that aren’t powered by Negative Energy, which actually heal them. In this section, I’ll be discussing the ones that you should get, although feel free to add other Spells that you find interesting.

Damage Spells

Necromancy Spells

• Boneshaker – Deals massive Unholy Power Damage, which causes the target’s skeleton to harm them. This is very effective against those who are immune to Negative Energy like Vermleks.
• Inflict Wounds – Deals great damage powered by Negative Energy. With Inflict Wound’s, Mass, you’re able to target multiple enemies at once. Additionally, your Caster Level, which is equivalent to your Stigmatized Witch’s max level, is added to its damage calculation, making Inflict Wounds a very powerful Spell.
• Umbral Strike – Deals massive Cold Damage and Negative Energy using two dark energy bolts with the potential to blind an enemy if they fail their Fortitude Save. What makes this Ray Spell good is it can still deal decent damage against enemies who are resistant to either of these damage types.
• Harm – Use Negative Energy to deal significant damage, up to a maximum of 150 points, by the time you reach Level 15. If they succeed with their Will Save, the damage is reduced by half, which is still high.
• Death Clutch – Instantly kill a target with 200 HP or less if they fail their Fortitude Save. For others who have more than 200 HP, they’ll be staggered while their Constitution will be drained. If your target succeeds their Save, they’ll at least remain staggered for 1 round.

Fire Spells

• Burning Arc – Bounce Fire Damage among enemies who are adjacent to one another. But note that if there are two or more of them, the damage you deal is reduced by half for each additional target.
• Scorching Ray – Blast enemies with a maximum of 3 rays to deal great Fire Damage. This is similar to Magic Missile, except that you’ll need to make an Attack Roll to determine whether it hits the target or not.
• Hellfire Ray – Allows you to deal Fire and Unholy Power Damage with a total of 6 rays. This is an upgraded version of Scorching Ray.

Non-Damage Spells

• Mage Armor – Gain +4 Armor Bonus. You’ll have to cast this before or at the start of every encounter to boost your AC.
• False Life – Gain temporary HP, which acts like a shield to be damaged first instead of your actual HP. You can receive a maximum of 21-39 HP with False Life, Greater.
• Ray of Enfeeblement – Deal Strength penalties to reduce the target’s effectiveness in making Melee Attack Rolls and inflicting Melee Damage.
• Ray of Exhaustion – Inflict Exhaustion or Fatigue onto a target, depending on whether or not their Fortitude Save succeeds. Successfully rolling this makes them feel fatigued instead, which penalizes their Strength and Dexterity by -2 each.
• Glitterdust – Blinds and reveals the outline of invisible creatures. If you were to cast Glitterdust and one of your targets (this is an AoE Spell) casts Invisibility on themselves, they’ll still be visibly outlined.
• Enervation – Inflict temporary Negative Levels against a target. For each level, they receive a -1 penalty on their Attack Rolls and Saves while reducing their HP by 5. Furthermore, their Caster Level is lowered by 1. As a result, Enervation is significantly useful against enemies with high HP. You can stack this Spell on a single target since these negative effects are cumulative. Note that the Undead are immune to this Spell.
• Wracking Ray – Improves Ray of Enfeeblement where you’re able to deal Strength and Dexterity Damage.
• Cure Wounds – Channels Positive Energy to heal you and your allies. Cure Wounds, Mass allows you to restore everyone’s HP as long as they’re within a target area.
• Heroism – Buff your ally by providing them with a +2 Morale Bonus on Attack Rolls and Saves in combat.

Hexes | Ember Companion Build Pathfinder WotR

Due to multiclassing, you’re able to choose 8 Hexes for Ember instead of 9. It’s best to take the first four of these in order except for Life Giver. Specifically, this requires Grand Hex, which is automatically unlocked when the Stigmatized Witch reaches Level 18. Hexes are as useful as your other Spells that make enemies vulnerable especially when you don’t have access to them yet at lower levels.

• Iceplant – Receives a +2 Natural Armor Bonus to raise your AC.
• Evil Eye – Imposes a -2 penalty on the target’s AC, Ability Checks, Attack Rolls, and Saving Throws. At Level 8, this penalty increases to -4. Evil Eye is useful, especially at earlier levels when the enemy stats are lower.
• Misfortune – Forces an enemy to roll twice for their Attacks, Saves and Ability Checks and to take the lower result. This is similar to D&D 5E’s Disadvantage.
• Cackle – Extend the duration of Evil Eye and Misfortune Hexes by one more round.
• Restless Slumber – Deal damage as the enemy turns in their sleep. This is an upgraded version of Slumber.
• Major Healing – Provides extra healing for the party.
• Fortune – Forces an ally to roll twice for their Attacks, Saves and Ability Checks but instead of taking the lower result, they’ll consider the higher value. Fortune is also extended by one round thanks to Cackle.
• Life Giver – Bring back the life of an ally by touching them.

Mythic Path

You can pick 10 Mythic Abilities and Feats in any order to make Ember a much more effective Spell Caster. For Mythic Abilities, you should acquire the following:

• Abundant Casting, Improved and Greater Abundant Casting – Increases the number of Spells you’re able to use.
• Archmage Armor – Receives additional AC Bonus after personally casting Mage Armor.
• Ascendant Element (Negative Energy or Fire) – Deals full Negative Energy or Fire Damage since the enemy’s resistances and immunities are ignored. You can choose which element you prefer to master.

For Mythic Feats, you’re going to select the ones that enhance your Caster Level Checks, Spell DC, and Critical Multiplier such as Spell Penetration (Mythic), Spell Focus (Mythic) (Necromancy), and Improved Critical (Mythic) (Ray). You’ll also want to get Sorcerous Reflex in order to cast two Spells in a single turn right after making an Initiative Roll because the first one is considered a Swift Action. Lastly, the Expanded Arsenal (Magic School) (Conjuration) allows you to apply the bonuses from other Feats like Spell Focus (Necromancy) to your Conjuration Spells, making them more potent.

Equipment

Ember’s gear is similar to Nenio’s except that you won’t be using Ranged Weapons at all due to the Weapon Attack Roll penalty you have. To boost your AC and Saves, you’ll want to equip the best versions of the Amulet of Natural Armor, Ring of Protection, and Cloak of Resistance.

In order to raise your Attributes and its respective modifiers, you’ll need to wear the Headband of Alluring Charisma as well as the Belt of Physical Form. These provide you with Enhancement Bonuses, particularly for Charisma, Dexterity and Constitution. Lastly, since you can’t wear Armor, you can choose any Clothing that provides you with decent bonuses such as the Silver Robe.

Final Tips

Ember’s Stigmatized Witch and Crossblooded Sorcerer Build may seem confusing at first but remember that you’ll only have to focus on a handful of Spells to deal significant damage. You’ll then supplement these with Hexes. It’s also essential to prioritize Spell Penetration over Spell Focus since you’ll also face demons with Spell Resistances right from the start. As such, you’ll be needing the Caster Level Check Bonus you get to overcome these resistances.

Note that the earlier versions of Inflict Wounds require you to approach your target to cast it. If you find yourself getting hit too often because of this, it’s also good to take Dodge and the Combat Mobility Feat somewhere between Levels 5 to 9. You can then continue with the Feats I suggested and remove Toughness from the list.

Lastly, remember that the Undead are different from the rest of the creatures you’ll come across. This means that you can heal them with Spells that are powered by Negative Energy such as Inflict Wounds, whereas you’re able to damage them with healing Spells like Cure Wounds.

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Stay tuned for more of these Companion Build Guides and be sure to check our Twitch Channel or the Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Wiki if you have questions on the game! What did you think of this guide? Which Companion would you like to see next? Let us know in the comments below!