My first build will probably look something like this.
Summon Zombie Dog (rune- na)
Plague of Toads (runed for blinding gas toads)
Locust Swarm (rune- na)
Spirit Walk (rune- na)
Poison Dart (rune- machine gun type)
Mass Confusion(rune -na)
Parasite (rune- na)
Another Build
Hex (rune- na)
Pit of Fire (rune- na)
Fetish Army (rune -na)
Spirit Walk (rune -na)
Horrify (rune- na)
Poison Dart (rune- machine gun)
Soul Harvest (rune- na)
Even though its early to speculate.. its still fun!|||It's pretty early to speculate on this.
A summoner might look something like....
-Zombie Dogs
-Gargantuan
-Fetish Army
-Mass Confusion
-Wall of Zombies
-Sacrifice
-Pit of Fire (or any direct damage spell)|||Skills
Damage
Mongrels - Rune for toughness/speed/extra mongrels out. This is b/c you will be...
Sacrifice - Rune for multi-blast. Popcorn in the microwave time!
Fire Bomb - Rune for skipping stones or piercing
Crowd Control
Grasp of the Dead - Rune for extra slow/extra range/nothing too radical
Buff/Debuff
Hex - Rune to flavor. It sounds awesome enough on its own.
Soul Harvest - Rune for speed increase or mana steal.
Movement
Spirit Walk - Rune to flavor
Traits
Leader of the Pack
Unrelenting Assault
Spirit Link
Care of the Master
Quickening
Ferocity
Cruelty
Blood Rites
Some of these are really dependent on how Sacrifice damage scales. Does it scale on your spell power? Does it scale on mongrel maximum health? Mongrel damage? If it's mainly based on spell damage, ignore most summons skills (other than Unrelenting Assault) and switch over to more personal spell damage skills.|||Exploding pets + Giant frog
Nuff said
|||Skills:Fetish Army
Summon Zombie Dog
Sacrifice
Spirit Barrage
Firebomb
Grasp of the Dead
Spirit Walk
Traits:
Toughness (5 point max.): Increases your Vitality.
Mind & Body (3 points max.): Regenerate 1% health per second.
Death Pact (3 points max.): Reduces damage taken when the Witch Doctor is under 50% health.
Ritual of Blood (1 point max.): 50% of mana costs go to health.
Leader of the Pack (1 point max.): +5% damage to Zombie Dogs.
Assassin (1 point max.): +100% damage when the Witch Doctor is wielding a dagger.
Rituals (5 points max.): Increases spell damage by a value equivalent to 10% of your Vitality.
Right-Handed (3 points max.): Increases damage done by skills when the Witch Doctor is wielding a weapon in his/her right hand.
Spirit Link (5 points max.): 10% of damage taken is instead redirected to your summons.
Quickening (3 points max.): Increases your casting speed.
Since i have no idead some of the rune effects for most of the wd skills this will shurelly change.
**edit**
I'm not shure if assassin only augument your weapon damage ... if so i need to rethink the traits, maybe take out assassin and leader of the pack and put 2 trait points in ferocity (only if this increase fetish dmg), i could also exchange Grasp of the Dead for poison dart
just to clarify, this is a PVP build.|||This is my Witch Doctor PVP build as of right now. I'm still kind of iffy about some of the spells but it's early and I have plenty of time to make changes.
Summon Zombie Dog - for meatshields, support, and use with sacrifice
Fetish Army - meatshields, support
Sacrifice - use with zombie dogs
Hex - sounds awesome, I just hope it works the same in pvp as it does in pve
Spirit Barrage/Firebomb - main attack
Wall of Zombies/Grasp of the Dead - can be used to my advantage and get me out of some sticky situations
Spirit Walk - i'm not sure if you can be damaged while under spirit walk, but that's mainly why I picked it and it's a better way to get around
Gargantuan - meatshield, support
I picked more than 7 skills because some are hard to throw out. It's early and I'll make this decision later
|||Alright people, here's my super theoretical build for a melee-casting, face-stabbing, Spirit-monger Witch Doctor. I'm imagining his gameplay a bit like this: a mob approaches, the WD and his Gargantuan confront them. The Gargantuan goes in ahead as the WD casts Mass Confusion. He then uses Soul Harvest, followed by Haunt and/or Spirit Barrage depending on the situation. He then begins slashing and gouging at the monsters closest to him, putting up a wall of zombies to divide the mob or cut of any archers or casters, casting another Haunt or mass confusion as necessary.
The idea came from combining a different WD build I'd cooked up with some neat trait combos and interactions I was pondering. I knew I wanted a melee-ish WD even though he might not fit that role (yeah, I'm "that" kind of player. Archetypes be damned!!!), and my first build had some things that made that work, but was generally unfocused when it came to skills.
So for this build, I chose Haunt as a central skill. I don't know why, as I explain below. It just appeals to me (though I don't know how Haunt and Swarm of Locusts differ, aside from damage type). Then, due to a trait called Meditation (explained far below under 'Traits'), I decided to focus on "spirit" spells, and thus picked up Soul Harvest, Spirit Barrage and Mass Confusion (not 100% sure MC is spirit). I took Gargantuan from the earlier build, then Spirit Walk 'cause it feels like a requirement, and finally Wall of Zombies.
Like I said, this WD will spend a lot of time in melee range. He'll be attacking with his weapon while waiting for his spirit spells to return their mana, then casting in-battle every so often.
In any case, here ya go!:
Skills
Offensive
Haunt: Main offensive spell. The build kinda started with this skill because I especially like it for some reason (despite the fact that it's barely, if ever, been seen in use). Will fire off a few of these into mobs after using Soul Harvest, and hopefully that and some other +spell damage stuff will soften up mobs enough for my WD's melee attacks to finish em off. Runed maybe for multiple spirits per cast (I feel safe assuming this will be one rune effect), or maybe monster explosion if they die while "haunted," for some AoE.
Spirit Barrage: Secondary offensive spell, though used relatively often as I expect I'll need it. Again, I don't think we really know how this one works. However, it fits the build insofar as it's a spirit skill and will return mana due to the trait Meditation. If it's like the Wizard's blizzard, then that's some good extra damage wherever I need it. If it's a hold-and-fire (for some reason I recall this being the case at one point, but I'm not sure if that's at all true) like Disintegrate, I'll have to pick something else. Runed for I have no idea, since I don't even know what the basic spell is like.
Utility
Soul Harvest: Used at the beginning of battles to up spell damage right off the bat. Seemed like a good fit since it's a spirit skill and I'll certainly have a number of enemies around me. Runed for possibly mana steal/recovery, so that with this on top of Meditation I won't have to worry too much about how I'm getting mana.
Gargantuan: Meatshield, alternate health pool with the trait Spirit Link. Again, we don't know much of anything about this guy (except that with a name like "gargantuan" he'll probably look mean as all get-out), but I'm assuming he's a bit like the necro's golems (but more useful
). It would be very nice if he had enough hitting power to actually help in the killing at high levels, but it's not really his purpose in this build. Runed for more health if available, or more damage. Or any one of the hundred other possibilities that might be available but are impossible to conceive of at this moment.Spirit Walk: For moving around 'n' stuff, 'cause it's a movement skill. Really, there seems to be no reason not to take whatever classes' movement skill, even if just one point goes into it. I guess I can escape if in danger, or whatever. Plus, it had Spirit in it's name, so it fits. Runed for maybe an explosion on re-entry into physical world? Or maybe for health and mana regen while in the spirit world? Man, with ideas this good I should be working at Blizzard...
Crowd Control
Mass Confusion: Probably used at the start of battle, right before soul harvest. Just to help cut down the damage I'll be taking, and to slightly bump the damage I'm doling out. Will be refreshed throughout battle as needed. Also, I believe it's a spirit skill, so...y'know...Meditation or whatever. Runed for something or other, I dunno.
Wall of Zombies: This, I think, will be a very useful skill for my build. It can be used to block off the enemy's advance, to add another source of damage, to block off/attack casters or archers at the back of a mob, or to alter the physical layout of wherever I happen to be killing people at any given moment (divide and conquer a mob or a smaller number of larger creatures, etc.). Again, we know very little, and this one isn't even a spirit skill, but I'm gonna go ahead and put my chips down on it anyway. Runed for maybe reduced mana cost, decreased cooldown, or increased cap on how many you can have at once. Or for WALL OF ZOMBIE BEARS (Surely, surely, they would not deny us more zombie bears...).
Traits
These choices were made without regard to how many trait points we'll get per-playthrough. However, I tried to avoid picking every single trait that fits this build. Any suggestions on what to drop or what else to choose?
Toughness: More health makes sense for a melee-type char, and the increased mana regen will work with meditation and (maybe) soul harvest to keep me in the mana.
Superior Skill: More dex so I can hit stuff and crit stuff, which are always good to do. Also, the increased dodge will help keep me alive in close quarters, and perhaps will cut down on enemies interrupting my casting.
Meditation: A very important trait. Makes all spirit spells return x% of mana used to cast them over x seconds. And since a large portion of my skills are spirit, it only makes sense.
Death Pact: Just for back-up. I'm guessing that even with all my increased Vitality from Toughness, my hit points will still be taking a whooping. This will hopefully turn the whooping into a mere gentle beating.
Rituals: Since I have all that extra Vit, I figured why not use it to power-up my spells? So here it is. Rituals. It does that, so good.
Blood Rites: Since I'll be right in the thick of combat, I'll be picking up health globes pretty much as soon as they drop/spawn. And hopefully I'll be picking up a decent number of them. This being the case, I might as well get a nice damage boost out of them. Plus, any extra physical damage will, I'm sure, be helpful for the WD.
Right-Handed: Since I'll be wielding a weapon anyway, yada yada yada more spell damage.
Assassin: And the weapon I'll be wielding is dddrrrruuummmrrrooollll A dagger! 100% extra damage seems quite good, but this kind of depends on how much damage daggers can do, what kind of affixes they can have, etc. Even if daggers turn out to be dull as turds, I can just put this point somewhere else and wield a sword or something. Not a crucial trait, but I like it anyway.
Spirit Link: Here's where the Gargantuan comes in. This transfers x% of damage the WD takes to his summons. Basically, this is just to help me survive longer.
Care of the Master: It makes sense to increase the Gargantuan's health since he is essentially a spare health pool for me. The more health he has, the longer he can take my beatings for me.
Quickening: Dunno about this one, might be useful. I figure since I'll be in melee while casting, interruptions will be a real problem. But whether this trait is a necessary answer to that problem, especially when you consider the increased chance to dodge from Superior Skill, is questionable. It may very well be intended more as a way to up DPS over a larger amount of time (for instance you can cast Plague of Toads 5 times over 3 seconds without it versus 7 time over 3 seconds with it), and will be largely unnoticeable if you're just casting single spells intermittently.
I can foresee bosses being a problem for this build. I can't imagine Haunt will be all that effective against them,they'll most likely plow right through wall of zombies, and they can't be confused. Hopefully Spirit Barrage will be effective against them, as well as the WD's dagger. Basic boss strategy is maybe melee with Gargantuan, retreat and leave Gargantuan to distract boss, cast spirit barrage and grab any health globes that might have dropped, then run back in and start stabbing again while mana regenerates. I dunno, it's way too early to be thinking about boss battles, so whatever (although it's also way too early to be theorizing builds, and enough people seem to be doing that. So maybe the one thing that ties us together, aside from our anticipation of D3, is our mental infirmity.)
I'm also not sure about the physical to magical damage output potential, though this is pretty difficult to measure given our limited info. I mean, I know the WD is a caster at heart, and I want to respect that, but I also want him to be able to hack people up with his dagger at least somewhat quickly. Maybe there's too much of a defensive focus. Who knows? Time will tell, but only you will tell me your opinion.
Well, I've wasted enough of your time. But feel free to speak any criticisms, suggestions, whatever you might have. Thanks for looking, and I'll see you all in the loony bin!
|||Another PVP buildFetish Leader (5 points max.): Increases damage done by Fetish skills.
Toughness (5 point max.): Increases your Vitality by 100%. (A)
Rituals (5 points max.): Increases spell damage by a value equivalent to 50% of your Vitality. (A)
Spirit Link (5 points max.): 50% of damage taken is instead redirected to your summons.(A)
Death Pact (3 points max.): Reduces damage taken by 30% when the Witch Doctor is under 50% health. (A)
Right-Handed (3 points max.): Increases damage done by skills when the Witch Doctor is wielding a weapon in his/her right hand.
Quickening (3 points max.): Increases your casting speed.
Ritual of Blood (1 point max.): 50% of mana costs go to health.
Fetish Army
Fetish Pit of Fire
Fetish Hex
Poison Dart
Gargantuan
Firebomb
Spirit Walk
I'm taking gargantuan on this one, but assuming hes not like golems for necro. I'll pick him if hes capable of doing more than just tank monsters, like doing either some kind of dps or cc via skills for the zombie?
This one is a Fetish temmed wd with traits to suport that. I was going to go for a more fragile wd, but since i don't know if the trait "Ferocity (3 points max.): Increases damage done by your summons" adds dmg to all your fetish skills to ... are they treated as summons or not? Dunno. Thats why i decided to keep the sturdy WD.
Tatics are simple, always have your summons up to soak dmg and do some dmg themselves. He will be using a one hander and a shield (if he can equip it). Hexing in every change he gets, when hes no hexing his kiting his enemies with his poison darts (stun or slow), casting pit of fire and firebomb to dish out the dmg. Spirit Walk is a nobrainer for dueling WDs.|||I'm going with:
Zombie Dog (maxed)
Sacrifice (maxed)
Parasite (maxed)
Horrify (Terror was such a good panic spell in D2, will be awesome with DoT)
Gargantuan (maxed)
Spirit Walk
Locust Swarm (maxed)
Not sure I'll have the skill points to really do all of that, but the plan is to throw out a ton of zombie dogs and parasites, and then use sacrifice as my main killing skill. I'll want to get zombie dog's health as high as possible using runes and traits (will their health be affected by the WDs Vitality??) and make sure I have some form of mana recovery since constantly sacrificing could be expensive.
Locust swarm doesn't really fit so might have to go, but I think it's awesome. Gargantuan is in there because I think there will be traits which improve it alongside zombie dogs, so having them both makes sense.|||I'll probably hit it off with a Spiritmonger build.
Main skills:
Spirit Barrage (maxed, runed for more dps) - Main damage-dealing spell, probably has a cooldown.
Firebomb (maxed, runed for dps) - Spammed between those Barrages. I assume it's a spirit skill.
Haunt (almost maxed, runed for more ghosts?) - Fire and forget; especially deals with pesky critter mobs.
Soul Harvest (almost maxed, rune unknown) - I like more power.
Leftover points (aiming for 9-12) divided between Spirit Walk, Grasp of the Dead, and Horrify, in this order of importance.
Traits:
Meditation: Spirit skills give back 30% of their mana cost back over 10 seconds. (90% mana returned? Hell yes!)
Unbreakable Will: Increases your Willpower. (More damage makes me happy)
Mana Regeneration: Regenerate 1% mana per second. (I still need to recover the last 10% of mana per spell)
Mind & Body: Regenerate 1% health per second. (Seems useful)
Toughness: Increases your Vitality. (I'm predicting to get hit often)
Rituals: Increases spell damage by a value equivalent to 10% of your Vitality. (100% at 5 points and 200 vitality sounds good)
Right-Handed: Increases damage done by skills when wielding a weapon in the right hand. (I plan on wearing a shield)
Cruelty: Increases your chance of dealing critical strikes. (Maybe)
Quickening: Increases your casting speed. (Always useful)
Gameplay:
Spirit Walk into a mob. Soul Harvest. Horrify. Kill and decimate.
Grasp of the Dead for bosses.
Using Soul Harvest efficiently requires some amount of risk, so the build needs to have some level of durability. But once Harvest is used, it's probably best to try and keep a little distance to the monsters, which might not be too easy without minions. So Horrify should turn out to be pretty useful.
***
Another possible build is my take on the Zombie Warden summoner.
Skills:
Sacrifice (maxed, runed for damage) - Animal disposal is the main responsibility of this WD.
Summon Zombie Dog (10-15 points, runed for health globes at death) - Sacrifice fodder and meatshields.
Parasite (10-15, rune unknown, probably another damage type) - More of the above, possibly with a cool animation!
Zombie Charger (10-15, runed for damage) - Something nice to do while not summoning zombie dogs.
Zombie Wall (8-12, rune unknown) - Mob control with some added damage.
Spirit Walk (1 point) - So that I can go talk to Alkor even with my dogs out.
Horrify (1 point) - Emergency button.
Traits:
Zombie Master: Increases damage done by Zombie skills. (I wonder if this increases the damage output of the dogs)
Ferocity: Increases damage done by your summons. (This does, though might not be important for total damage output)
Care of the Master: Increases the health of your summons. (They might not live this long anyways)
Spirit Link: 10% of damage taken is instead redirected to your summons. (But with this I don't want them dying too soon)
Unrelenting Assault: 10% chance that a Zombie Dog will be brought back to life when it dies. (Easily awesome)
Staff Specialization: Increases damage done by skills when wielding a staff. (Staff for whacking those stupid zombies)
Spirit Vessel: +10 mana gained when you pick up a health globe. (I'll be getting a lot of these)
Blood Rites: Health globes give you 5% increased damage done for 10 seconds. (Meh, couldn't think of anything else)
Gameplay:
Summon, Sacrifice, repeat. Throw a Parasite or a Charger in between. Simple but fun.
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