Witch

The Witch is a magical combat class that was introduced in Fire Emblem Gaiden. Wielding offensive magic as its primary weapon of choice, the Witch class is renowned for its ability to teleport from one point to another in any given skirmish.

History in the Series

The Witch class was originally an enemy-only class that debuted in Gaiden. In that game, Witches are powerful female magic units that wield Black Magic. They are most noted for their use of the Teleportation ability. Witches also have the ability to summon more Witches. However, like most other summoned enemy reinforcements, should the original Witch be killed, the reinforcements will also fall.

The Witch class was not seen in the series again until the release of Fates, where it can be accessed by all female units through the usage of DLC-exclusive Witch's Marks. Much like its predecessors, the Witch class is again imbued with the abilities to use Dark Magic and Warp, learning the skills enabling them to do so when necessary requirements are met.

In Shadows of Valentia, a remake of Gaiden, the Witch class returns and functions much as the same as it did in the original title. However, the narrative provides more context for witches as being women that had their souls sacrificed to Duma, granting them power at the price of becoming puppets of the Duma Faithful. With this change in the story, Delthea and Sonya are no longer Witches when faced as enemies, and are instead Mages. Nuibaba, whose characterization was greatly rewritten, and who appeared in Gaiden as an Arcanist, became a Witch through surrendering her soul to Medusa after a near death experience.

Other Games

The Witch class also appears in TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga. Witches in this title can wield all types of Anima magic alongside Dark magic and are also uniquely granted the ability to Warp. While almost all of the Witches in this game are enemy units, Sherra acts as the exception, making the decision to enlist in the player's army after saving Shigen's life.

Overview

Profile

In Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, the Witch class is given a background. According to Lukas and Saber, Witches are women whose souls have been offered to Duma, either willingly or by force. While the Witch gains unrivaled magical prowess, their souls are ripped from their bodies, becoming nothing more than hollow husks with the sole purpose of serving Duma and his Faithful. The exact process of making Witches are unknown but they have varying degrees of outcomes. The two most notable examples of the standard Duma Witches are Marla and Hestia, whose transformations are permanent and seem to carry vestiges of their old personalities, albeit in a warped manner and loyal to both Jedah and Duma.

The process to make Witches can either be done incompletely or can possibly take time to fully complete as Delthea was partially turned into a Witch by Tatarrah, gaining most of their abilities while being subservient to him. However, she was freed from the process upon Tatarrah's death and subsequently lost said powers as a result.

In his descent to madness, Berkut sacrificed Rinea in exchange for power from Duma himself, making her the only known individual not created by a Duma Faithful. Rinea's transformation is unique compared to all others as her body became wreathed in fire.

A completely separate entity, Medusa, also has the ability to create Witches. Nuibaba, Medusa's only known Witch, retains most of the abilities of the Duma Witches other than her unique Medusa spell and that she trades life forces of other individuals in exchange for her perpetual youth. Though still a soulless entity that serves her master, Nuibaba displays more personality compared to the Duma Witches.

Combat

Fates

Witches possess the highest capped Magic out of any magic-wielding class in the game, having one more point of Magic than the Sorcerer, and having 3 more Magic points than Onmyoji. Like Sorcerers, Witches are capable of obtaining an S-Rank in Tomes, allowing them to use the coveted Excalibur tome. Their innate critical bonus and slightly higher Skill and Speed as compared to Sorcerers make the Witch class immensely attractive, while having slightly subpar defensive capabilities. The Witch class's superior Magic and Speed allows them to overpower most enemies that come their way, alongside avoiding enemy onslaughts reliably.

The four class skills that Witches are able to learn include Shadowgift, Witch's Brew, Warp and Toxic Brew.

Shadowgift is learnt at Level 1, allowing Witches and other non-Dark Mages/Sorcerers to use Dark Magic. However, Nosferatu is the only tome considered as such in Fates, thus making this skill significantly less useful than it was in Awakening. Nonetheless, Witches' devastatingly high Magic ensures the HP drain from Nosferatu to be worthwhile, even if its inability to perform follow-up attacks could be considered a waste of the class's high Speed.

At Level 10, Witches learn Witch's Brew. This skill employs the user's Luck to randomly obtain a potion item during the first 7 turns. The skill is particularly useful when the player engages in Multiplayer battles, during which the convoy is inaccessible.

At Level 25, Witches learn Warp, a skill that is not just unique to them, but is possibly the most useful skill that they have unique access to. The Warp skill allows its user to teleport themselves to any space located adjacent to ally units and thereafter take another immediate turn of action. A particularly useful strategy that one can consider is to combine Warp with Galeforce; after defeating an enemy unit, the user, assuming they were unsupported in battle, will be able to Warp back to safety. The strategy can also be utilized to reach out towards struggling allies, whether it be through Attack Stance, Dual Guard, or, if the user has reclassed into a class capable of using Staves, heal. Keep in mind that Warping to an ally, attacking, and then Warping back will not work, as Galeforce only activates when its user is unsupported. As ally units positioned adjacent to each other are considered to be supporting each other regardless of whether they perform any actions together, Galeforce will therefore not be triggered and the player will turn not be able to further exploit Warp.

The final skill Witches learn, Toxic Brew, is learnt at level 35. This skill is triggered by its user's Skill, freezing opponents and reducing their Avoid by 20 for 1 turn when activated. It is particularly useful for stopping powerful enemies, but if the user is formidable enough, they may kill the enemy before giving the skill a chance to activate. The only way to prevent this is by using a weapon that cannot perform double attacks, such as Nosferatu or Ink Painting. Toxic Brew works best when the user attacks from a distance.

On the whole, Witches can be considered a magical glass cannon, being able to unleash extremely powerful magical attacks against their foes and withstand hostile magical onslaughts. However, they are immensely vulnerable to physical attacks, and all it takes is for at least one or two of such attacks for the Witch to be felled, but they will evade reliably thanks to a really good Speed stat, It is thus recommended that at least one female magical character is reclassed into it.

In-Game

Base Stats

Maximum Stats

Growth Rates

Class Skills

Promotions

Notable Witches

Gaiden/Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

• Marla and Hestia - Sonya's sisters who are in the service of Jedah.
• Sonya - Marla and Hestia's sister who leaves the service of Jedah in disgust. Gaiden only.
• Delthea - Luthier's sister. She is brainwashed into serving Rigel by Tatarrah. Gaiden only.
• Nuibaba - The ruler of Fear Mountain who sold her soul to Medusa. Shadows of Valentia only.
• Rinea - The fiancé of Berkut who is forcibly transformed into a Witch and forced to fight Alm's army.
• Celica - The lost princess of Zofia. Temporarily turned into a witch when she was sacrificed to Duma and killed by Alm while she was under Duma's control. Later restored to life by Mila's blessing. Shadows of Valentia only, and only in cutscenes.

TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga

• Sherra - A Zoan witch who saves Shigen from death in order to repay him.
• Karla - A Zoan witch who manipulates Bahanuke. She is Shigen's mother and Zeek's sister.

Gallery