Mega Witch Doctor Skills Report

[Flux]

I've posted a quite large write up of the WD based on Beta play. It covers every skill in great detail and I'd imagine any WD fan will want to check it out.

http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/com...ls-mega-report
http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/com...eport-part-two

I answered quite a few questions in the comments on each post as well, but if people have more specific queries, you can fire away here. I or other beta testers might be able to help.

[raveharu]

I don't want to read, I want to PLAY.

[Muggs]

I don't want to read, I want to PLAY.

LOL I feel you greatly here.

I am getting so tired of reading and watching vids. I have the beta memorized and I have yet to even step foot in sanctuary.



Great write up flux. I did enjoy reading the skills report. I also wonder to what degree the version being played in closed beta differs from what is being played on blizzard campus when it comes to skills etc.

I also watched a few playthroughs were the person attempted to use hex for a decent amount of time and it seems completely worthless.

[HardRock]

I also watched a few playthroughs were the person attempted to use hex for a decent amount of time and it seems completely worthless.

Well, I remember Jay Wilson saying, that there will be skills tailored for PvP and these won't make much sense in a PvE environment. I think Hex is definitely one of these skills. Horrify also looks much more handy for PvP, where your pets won't be able to keep your enemies at bay.

[Muggs]

Well, I remember Jay Wilson saying, that there will be skills tailored for PvP and these won't make much sense in a PvE environment. I think Hex is definitely one of these skills. Horrify also looks much more handy for PvP, where your pets won't be able to keep your enemies at bay.

I can see horrify but I am not even sure Hex would be worthwhile in PVP. If you watch the Forcestrategy play through with the WD an him using hex for a decent amount of time you can see it needs to be tuned. I think with a little modification it could be a fun spell. The runed giant chicken part sounds like it will be hilarious.

[tommyducker]

I just got my beta key today and am going to start with the witch doctor. This is really handy info. Thanks

[z00t]

Hey Flux - has your opinion on these skills changed at all through more playing + the changes with the patches?

There are a few questions I was hoping you could answer:

1) How do Corpse Spiders do against single targets? If there is only 1 enemy in range of the spiders, will all four spiders attack it? If so, that's 152% weapon damage just off the first attack from each of the four spiders. Compared to other WD skills on the skill calc, that's very good damage, especially when you consider the fact that the spiders will each attack more than once. If each spider gets even just 2 attacks each (and assuming they all hit the same target), that's 304% weapon damage. In my head, it sounds as if this'd be a good boss killer, assuming you can get rid of whatever minions are around the boss, first. Your report also said that Haunt did 500% dmg, as listed in the Skill Calc, so it seems like Corpse Spiders has gotten a buff since then.

2) What is, in your opinion, the WD's go-to spell for single-target damage? Like when there's that one superunique you really need to focus down? Certainly Hex is useful in this regard, but it doesn't do damage by itself - what do you pair it with for optimal boss-killing? Poison Dart seems unreliable because it comes into contact with the first thing in its way. Haunt with an Alabaster Runestone sounds like the most efficient single-target killing spell, but it's totally dependent on that rune. I know you haven't had the chance to play with Spirit Barrage, but even that spell which only hits what sounds like a single target by default, doesn't do more damage than the WD's AoE spells.

3) With the new information we have since your writeup, are you able to confirm why we'd want to take the Indigo Runestone effect of Grasp of the Dead (Rain of Corpses)? Even if it was 28% weapon dmg per second, that's still less than the default, un-runed effect.

4) You say that the Hex ability can only provide about one hex every 18 seconds - so the spell only goes on cooldown after the 8-sec duration of the Fetish Shaman times out, right? Is this true for all spells with a 'duration', like the Barbarians' Call of the Ancients? Does that also only go on cooldown AFTER the ancients have timed out?

5) How long does the actual transformation on Hex last? It seems to be only a couple of seconds in a video I saw. Does the length of the transformation change based on the type of monster you use it on? (regular monster, unique, superunique, boss, etc)

6) When can we has more Runestone Effect videos? Not just for the WD (although that is preferred ^^) I'm dyin' for more :P.

[HotelSoap]

Snake to the face is probably the best name of a rune ever. Also I think if you attack a hexed monster, it becomes un-hexed. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but that seems logical. And I'm thinking that more powerful monsters won't be affected by Hex.