NEED opinions about exactly this build here ))

[WDfromBg]

Greetings! I have played Diablo II for many years and I pre-ordered Diablo III in january 2012. So, I would like to start DIII as a female Witch Doctor. But I am not sure if my latest "favourite" build is all right:

http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#WRYVfT!ade!aaZZZZ

????

Pro people or anyone regardless of skill and experience, tell me what you think...

I can later say why I chose exactly this.

[pcguy]

This seems like a solid, defense oriented build. It uses fire, physical, and poison damage, and has healing skills. It has no skills which help generate or recover mana.

Your choices for primary attack are fine, but I think Toad Affinity + Explosive Beast would just as good as Explosive Toads + Undeath.

My reasoning is that Toad Affinity is completely free so you can cast it even when you do not have mana - it is very reliable.

Explosive Beast is quite similar to Explosive Toads. It has 4 times the cost, but it can hit more enemies and do more damage. It also matches your build better visually - it conjures a flaming zombie dog. It should be the move you use when you have full mana.

By switching to Toad Affinity, you will have completely eliminated any fear of not having enough mana. You can also cast Toad Affinity infinitely so that you can trigger Fetish Sycophants with no regard to mana loss.

Skill	Mana	Effect
Explosive Toads	34	Mutate to fire bullfrogs that explode for 169% weapon damage as Fire.
Toad Affinity	0	Removes the Mana cost of Plague of Toads.
Undeath	139.7	If the Zombie Charger kills any enemies, it will reanimate and charge nearby enemies for 204% weapon damage as Poison. This effect can repeat up to 2 times.
Explosive Beast	139.7	Summon an explosive Zombie Dog that streaks toward your target before exploding, dealing 235% weapon damage as Fire to all enemies within 9 yards.

End result for Plague of Toads - You spend 0 mana doing 130% weapon damage. 39% damage lost. 34 mana saved.

End result for Zombie Charger - You spend the same amount of mana to do 31% extra damage in a larger radius. 31% damage gained, 9 yard radius gained. Drawback: Undeath has a chance to do 612% damage, but only in certain situations, and the damage will most likely be spread out amongst multiple targets.

[z00t]

I'd like to point out that we are still not certain how the Explosive Beast rune works for Zombie Charger, since all we have is a rather shoddy emulator video of it .

My understanding of the Explosive Beast rune is that the dog explodes on the thing it first comes into contact with, and damages everything in a 9-yard radius around it. However, I do think it's longer-ranged than the default Zombie Charger (default Zombie Charger could probably hit more enemies than Explosive Beast, depending on how many are in front of you).

Basically, I don't think it's strictly better, but I think it would indeed be better to take Explosive Beast for this particular build because the longer range (which I assume it has) would better synergise with Plague of Toads rather than having overlap by using two skills which are most effective when the enemy is in your face.

[WDfromBg]

Thanks! But I thought that Toad Affinity or FroggyObsession if you prefer is too good to be true and I do not think they will keep it un-nerfed for long. Otherwise,thanks for the advice.
And , yes...the idea of this build is to be defensive and secure.

[pcguy]

Thanks! But I thought that Toad Affinity or FroggyObsession if you prefer is too good to be true and I do not think they will keep it un-nerfed for long.

I do not think that it is overpowered. There are other Mana reduction and Mana recovery skills are present in the WD's repertoire which lead me to believe that this skill is balanced in it's current state.

For instance, Spirit Barrage - The Spirit is Willing is a spammable, 190% weapon damage spell which only costs 64 mana. Using Rush of Essence, 32.34 mana can be recovered per cast over 10 seconds, or 3.23 mana per second per cast.

Haunt - Draining Spirit only costs 98 mana. It can cause 575% weapon damage over 12 seconds and can recover 123 mana for you in those same 12 seconds. This equals 47.91 damage per second and 10.25 mana per second. This does not include situations where Haunt spreads to other enemies. If Rush of Essence is used, you will also gain 29.4 mana per cast for 10 seconds, or 2.94 mana per second.

How does Toad Affinity measure up? Well, it does 130% weapon damage, which is 60% less than the 190% The Spirit is Willing offers and 82.09% more than the 47.91% of Draining Spirit. No additional mana is gained. Toad Affinity can't be targeted as reliably and isn't supported by Rush of Essence - Traits that are shared by both The Spirit is Willing and Draining Spirit, respectively.

[WDfromBg]

Damn, you are really into it, are you not! Thanks!

[WDfromBg]

OK,correction, after I thought about it a lot:
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...VfT!ade!caZZYZ
Now, I think this would be it (finally)

[WDfromBg]

Any suggestions (dont change the toads and the sacrificial dogs) ?