Tech and Talk > Gaming > PC gaming GAMES > [D3] Witch Doctor Thread

reply to Bruute

Re: [D3] Witch Doctor Thread

Yeah I'm level 53 now and Splinters is still the way to go IMO with Poison Darts. I've tried each of the poison dart runes and always go back to Splinters for ranged DPS.

reply to Bruute
Right now, I feel the class is woefully underpowered as far as finding a decent combination of CC and damage dealing.

Its almost a requirement to have a full 5 stack of Soul Harvest on, the damage increase is insane (about 33%!)

Direbats seems to be the only worthwhile ranged damage spell, everything else is a worthless DoT or worthless damage.

Most of my spells were either Spirit Walk for the mana regen (more Direbats!) or FIRESKULLBOMB to mop up what I didnt kill with Direbats.

Gargantuan and Zombie Dogs just die in Hell, I cant imagine they would do any better in Inferno.

Zombie bears might be good, IDK. The stack of Zombies falling down was a big dissapointment, its really hard to direct it.
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Jobbie told me to change my sig.

I agree completely, it is hard to find a combo of CC and damage.

I always run Soul Harvest, can't say i always have 5 stacks but even 1 is definitely an improvement.

I ran Direbats all the way through Hell, I was the same way, we just don't have anything good for long range damage other than that.

I ran FireBombs through hell difficulty as well, they just don't have the damage in Inferno and you have to focus fire a little more in my experience. I loved being able to bounce them around walls though... I sure do miss that.

Gargantuan and zombie dogs just die in inferno, I never looked into which stats actually increase things for your pets, so maybe you could stack something to give them survivability, not sure on that though.

Finally tried Zombie Bears on Inferno, you die a lot but you definitely do damage. It took me a while to get used to it but once I did it was definitely worth it in my opinion. If anybody hasn't tried them I certainly recommend giving it a go. I'm sure they'd be more effective on the lesser difficulties being as how you are a lot less likely to get one shotted.

I feel were underpowered but still fun to play, sadly we just don't have much variety at higher difficulties.

I'm open to any other builds to try on inferno if anybody thinks of some creative ones.

reply to Bruute

there are also items that make you regen mana faster, I see them all the time. you can go one of two ways, much like every other class in the game, larger resource pool or faster regen.

reply to Bruute
I have a new build I have been using for solo/group play act2 inferno or higher.

LMB: Poison Darts - Triple Dart
RMB: Mass Confusion - cd reduction
AC1: Spirit - duration
AC2: Soul Harvest - whatever you like
AC3: Slow grip (forgot the name) - increase slow by 80%
AC4: Hex - Jinx

The hex with Jinx basically takes the mob out of combat by chain pig'n the mob (like sheep from mages in wow). On top of making it a non factor from the pig form it also takes 20% more dmg.

When I roll with a group I usually will let the tank pull the pack and round them up, then I run in harvest and mass confuse so they kill each other. After the mass confuse I pop the Hex out to let it pop a mob into a pig.

I use the slow grip because the increase slow allows for repositioning and kiting around if need be. It has a low CD and 80% slow is pretty beast for as long as it lasts.

Zombie wall is to short and long CD so I dont even bother with it.

reply to Bruute
I think that if besice and I could find a good, actual tank, then i think we could really just farm the crap out of act IV. the tank could stun/pull mobs, Besice could have a dps/CC build, and I could go straight glass cannon and just mow the majority of stuff down. this would be more fun for everyone i think.

It would have to be a beast of a tank for act4 though. I say we start with act2 and move up from there, at least until they correct the dmg output from act3/4.

But ya, I agree with trying to form a farm group.

reply to Bruute
They really need to buff the gargantuan pet or have its helth/ac scale off of something because as of right now its completely useless in hell or higher.

I liked that in D2 as a necro were you could make the metal golem stronger based off the item you used to create him.

The templar cant even tank inferno mobs either so they should up them also for us squishy folks.

WD is just so damn squishy and lacks big time dmg like the DH or Wiz. I hope they do something to make us more than a CC/buff bitch haha.

reply to Bruute
Anybody gone through and looked up the priority stats, as in what stats are better on your armor?

Attack speed
Crit chance
Intel
Crit hit
Vitality

On inferno difficulty is there a happy balance between survival and damage, or should witch doctors try to do the whole glass cannon idea and go all damage priorities?

I can do through Act 2 on inferno and could before the last patch that nerfed it. I just still have a big problem of getting one shot in Act 3, so I'm looking for what may be working for others.

I havent been able to find anything to help me survive vortex/teleport packs and it seems like I have bad luck with one or the other on many packs in act 3 and 4 Inferno.

I found it easiest to use the slow+cc build with merc.

I honestly think I am going to put the WD on the shelf and rarely take him off until some pet changes or something go into play.

Ya, the WD is still useful for DPS boosts for group fights and some CC, for example Belial inferno. WD really makes the phase2 a burn session with the damage totem.

On a side note, I was able to solo everything in act 1 and halfway through 2 as a monk. LoH is beast and I dont get insta killed in vortex/jailer fights or teleport/waller type packs.

reply to puppy
I've checked out all the class forums on Battle.net and the general consensus is that every class can faceroll Inferno provided you have millions upon millions of gold to buy the "best" items out there. However, for the rest of us peons, Demon Hunter seems to be the least gear dependent class with Wizard not far behind. The melee classes (Barbarian & Monk) are kinda screwed because of the fact that they're...well....melee. Those of us who play Witch Doctors know what kind of shape we're in, so no need to elaborate on that one.

All in all, with the current state of the game - I'm not very happy with my $60 purchase. I've been tempted several times in the past 2 weeks or so to just say "to hell with it" and not even bother playing Diablo III anymore. Hopefully after a few patches and as the game matures it will get better. Time will tell.
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Support the country you live in or live in the country you support!

I also hate the fact that it's so AH dependent at higher levels but I'd say that just from the time spent I definitely got my $60 out of it, and I've only got one toon in the mid 50s. Haven't played in a couple of weeks though because exhaustively searching the AH every couple of levels just isn't fun to me.