Dark Witches

Fighting with
With only 4 shots, Dark Witches are primarily used as casters.

Their mana is enough to cast only two spells, typically Delay on the most dangerous enemy stack followed by Chastise on an allied stack. Note that Chastise cannot be cast twice as it costs 6 mana points while Dark Witches have only 11.

When more than 5 are recruited, Dark Witches are often split into two stacks for maximum impact at the very start of combat. Even 1 Dark Witch can be useful to soften an enemy stack with its Disruption Ray for the entire combat.

In PvP fights, with a high enough initiative bonus Dark Witches may sometimes take a quick first shot to eliminate enemy shooters or casters such as Elven Bowmen. After spending mana, they are typically used to kill off very small enemy stacks that get in your way, or as kamikazes drawing the retaliation of strong enemy stacks.

Sometimes the right move is to melee-attack with Dark Witches to utilize Lizard Assailants' ability, Assault.

When planning your casts with Dark Witches, check for the presence of allied mana-syphoning creatures (e.g. Vermins) and/or enemy mana-draining creatures (e.g. Apparitions).

Fighting against
Hunts: Dark Witches appear in hunts starting with Hunters Guild level 6. They are relatively easy hunting targets because of their melee penalty as a shooter.

PvP: Dark Witches are sometimes targeted first to prevent a Chastise on a dangerous stack such as Shrews or Lizard Assailants.

Upgrading
Dark Witches may be upgraded to Dark Sybils on CL 16, or on CL 15 for 50. The upgrade is useful but not a must. It makes the most difference for PvP fights because of +3 mana and the added Confusion spell.