Witch Doctor build for Hell

[magicrectangle]

I went through normal and nightmare pet spec'd, and I knew that was going to stop being effective at 60, but apparently it stops being effective as soon as you enter hell difficulty. My dogs die like wet paper bags. The gargantuan stays up okay though.

So, I need a new build. This being hardcore spirit vessel is mandatory. I'd also really like to keep jungle fortitude, but if I have to go rush of essence + vision quest I suppose I will.

I'm not high enough level for bears yet (I'm 51), so I'm thinking phantasm. Can you do phantasm without VQ? I hate to dedicate 4 skill slots to spamming cools. I've been thinking about doing this:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...dRT!ZVf!baaYaZ

I'm not sure if rush of essence alone is enough to make phantasm viable. I guess if I need VQ I could adapt the build to this:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...dRT!UVf!baaZaZ

I hate to lose jungle fortitude and splinters, but if I have to I guess I have to. Technically I could keep splinters, but I'm not about to put spirit walk on cooldown just for mana, my get out of jail free card has to be ready when I need it.

Are there other good builds I should consider? What about at 54? What's the standard hardcore bears build look like? I was thinking something like this:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...dRQ!ZVU!cabZaY

[magicrectangle]

I'm not high enough level for bears yet (I'm 51), so I'm thinking phantasm. Can you do phantasm without VQ? I hate to dedicate 4 skill slots to spamming cools. I've been thinking about doing this:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...dRT!ZVf!baaYaZ

Played around with this a bit in nightmare a4 (kind of scared of going back to hell after getting two spirit vessel procs on skeleton king), it seems okay, but I find myself right up in melee with enemies quite a bit, which isn't going to be so good for hell. I could add grasp to the build, but even then I don't imagine stuff staying in the phantasms long enough to be worth it, so maybe it is better to go dire bat:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...dRT!ZVb!aaaYaZ

I'll give this a try once the servers come back up, still love to hear what other hardcore witch doctors have done for hell difficulty though.

[mrmud]

You might want to consider wall of zombies to keep the mobs away from you

[magicrectangle]

I thought about that but the cooldown is kind of a turn-off. Does it end up working out pretty well?

[mrmud]

I only have a lvl 55 softcore WD so far but I have seen alot of HC WDs running wall, so it seems fairly standard.

[MoUsE_WiZ]

It sounds like you don't want a splinters build, but gotta mention this is what I'm using:

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...XZT!ZWV!aZabaY
I got through hell using that with Bad Medicine rather than PTV, but my trip through hell hardly counts as I leveled to 60 on A1 hell mothers+cain then used A1 inferno barely viable gear to just kind of tear through it. Both versions of the build have worked fine for me in Inferno, the main reason I'm using PTV at this point is that my gear reached a point where I kill fast enough that I no longer need Bad Medicine to help keep Stinky alive.

[Solwolf]

It sounds like you don't want a splinters build, but gotta mention this is what I'm using:

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#aSUXZT!ZWV!aZabaY
I got through hell using that with Bad Medicine rather than PTV, but my trip through hell hardly counts as I leveled to 60 on A1 hell mothers+cain then used A1 inferno barely viable gear to just kind of tear through it. Both versions of the build have worked fine for me in Inferno, the main reason I'm using PTV at this point is that my gear reached a point where I kill fast enough that I no longer need Bad Medicine to help keep Stinky alive.

Try swapping Horrify with Mass Confusion. The cooldown is longer, but on elite packs, the charm causes them to attack each other for often sizable damage.

I used Locust Swarm until I started dipping my toe into Inferno - then I switched to a full on Splinters build.

Here's what I'm using for now: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...ZRj!ZcV!aacaab

And here's my almost-makes-hell-easy build: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...ZSQ!ZXV!accaZZ (pop BBV and Bears when in trouble for mondo damage)

[Risingred]

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...baY!ZTe!aYZYYY

That's what I'm using in SC but it's also what I would use in HC. Acid Cloud with Kiss of Death makes a big difference because it's a pretty high damage skill that does decent damage in melee range. I'm sure you've noticed that you're in melee range a lot by now.

The downside to firebomb is that it has a bit of a casting time if you don't stack any IAS, but the bouncing is awesome because you can toss one out and run a bit. This is a kiting build. I've yet to come close to dying in Hell with this so far (Act I, at least), particularly when you toss a haunt on every elite, then have GotD on a short cooldown.

The rune for spirit walk works out great because you can just use it to regen mana/avoid damage for acid cloud.

For HC in the build I linked, I'd drop fetish sycophants for spirit vessel, though. The sycophants make great, but unreliable, little tanks as they do draw the attention of monsters, despite not having a visible health bar.

I should mention that I crafted a bit of gear, but I haven't gone to the AH for him at all. This is all found gear/crafted.

[MoUsE_WiZ]

Try swapping Horrify with Mass Confusion. The cooldown is longer, but on elite packs, the charm causes them to attack each other for often sizable damage.

The short CD allows me to get close for locust more often, and is also handy against vortex. I don't think I'm going to drop locust because I like covering things with locusts. Can't hurt to give it a try though; how long do elites stay converted?

[Solwolf]

The short CD allows me to get close for locust more often, and is also handy against vortex. I don't think I'm going to drop locust because I like covering things with locusts. Can't hurt to give it a try though; how long do elites stay converted?

Oh, don't get me wrong, I think Locusts are the single best WD skill for damage. Love them - just too scared to get that close in Inferno to use them. I might try swapping out Hex - Hedge Magic for them though.

Mass Confusion doesn't last long on elites, just a few seconds, but it's enough to focus one down, usually - and they damage each other. Then Hex/Zombie Barricade/Grasp gives enough CC to whittle the rest down with Psn Darts. Vortex and teleport, along with the always frustrating Fast affixes are tough.