Diablo Wiki - User contributions [en]

Witch Doctor

2009-06-17T00:46:30Z

Drakk: Changed the abbreviation for Witch Doctor from WB to WD lol :)

The '''Witch Doctor''', abbreviated '''WD''', is a pure [[caster|spellcaster]], dealing with elemental magic, nature magic, necromancy and alchemy. The class has taken some inspiration from the [[Necromancer]] of [[Diablo II]].

==Background==
{{Classbox
|game= Diablo III
|portrait= Witch_Doctors.jpg
|portrait-width= 205px
|name= Witch Doctor
|classtype= official
|role= [[Caster]], [[Summoner]]
|attrib= [[Willpower]] [[Mana]]

|skilltree1= [[Plague Skill Tree]]
|skilltree2= [[Spirit Skill Tree]]
|skilltree3= [[Voodoo Skill Tree]]

|origin= [[Teganze]], [[Torajan|Torajan jungles]]
|affiliation= [[Tribe of the Five Hills]] 
|friends= None Known
|foes= [[Clan of the Seven Stones]], [[Tribe of the Clouded Valley]]
}}The Witch Doctor comes from the an area of the [[Torajan]] jungles called [[Teganze]] on the southern tip of the great eastern continent, just southwest of [[Kurast]] (where {{wl|[http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Act_Three Act Three]}} took place in [[Diablo II]]). You can see it located on the [[World map]] close to Kurast.

The fearsome Witch Doctor of the [[umbaru]] is believed to be a legend by many, but [[Abd al-Hazir]] has seen them with his own eyes, documented in his [[Writings of Abd al-Hazir: Entry no. 0013|thirteenth entry]] of his [[Writings of Abd al-Hazir|Writings]].

The Witch Doctor uses terrifying precision to assault his foe's mind and body with elixirs and powders evoking fires, explosions, and poisonous spirits. He can also summon and control [[undead]] creatures from the netherworld to combat his enemies.

He and she comes from the Tribe of the Five Hills, who frequently engages in tribal warfare with both the Clan of the Seven Stones and the Tribe of the Clouded Valley as a ritual rather than conquest. The tribes use these wars to replenish their supply of human sacrifices their civilization revolves around. Only those taken in battle are considered worthy of the ritual sacrifice according to the code of heroism and honour of the tribes.

The tribes define themselves by their belief in the [[Mbwiru Eikura]], which roughly translates to "[[Unformed Land|The Unformed Land]]". Their belief holds that the true, sacred reality is veiled behind the physical one we normally experience. Their vitally important public ceremonies are centred upon sacrifices to the life force that flows from their gods, who inhabit the Unformed Land, into this lesser physical realm.

Witch Doctors are finely attuned to this Unformed Land and are able to train their minds to perceive it through a combination of rituals and the use of selected roots and herbs found in the jungles. They call the state in which they interact with this other world the [[Ghost Trance]].

The second most sacred belief of the tribes is their philosophy of self-sacrifice and non-individuality, of suppressing one's self-interest for the good of the tribe.

Their most current war created an intense social upheaval among the tribes due to an incident, of which details are lacking, but might be the reason the Witch Doctor has travelled west to [[Tristram]].

==Class Design==
The Witch Doctor looks a bit like the top half of one of [[Diablo II]]'s {{wl|[http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Flayer_Shaman Flayer Shaman]}}, especially when outfitted in one of his oversized, colourful tribal masks. There is even a Flayer Shaman called {{iw|Witch_Doctor_Endugu Witch Doctor Endugu}}. Judging by the [[Witch Doctor skills|skills thus far demonstrated]], the WD fights a lot like a {{wl|[http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Necromancer Necromancer]}}, using cunning and guile, rather than direct physical attacks. Witch Doctors possess a number of mind control spells, the ability to summon and control [[undead]] servants, and a variety of direct damage [[elemental]] attacks.

[[Image:Wd-mongrel2.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Simple [[Mongrel]] and fire-enhanced Mongrel, primary minion of the WD.]]
The [[D3 Team]] has described the Witch Doctor as old and grizzled and fanatical. His magic is not clean and easy, like the fire or lightning a {{iw|Sorceress Sorceress}} can produce with a snap of her fingers. Witch Doctors get dirty. They summon [[Wall of Zombies|walls of zombies]] that rip apart attacking enemies, they call forth undead demon hounds called [[Mongrel]]s that they can detonate to deal heavy damage to their enemies, and they fashion the skulls of the dead into explosive grenades. The D3 team discussed the Witch Doctor's design concepts in the [[WWI 2008: Denizens of Diablo Panel|Denizens of Diablo panel]] at the [[WWI 2008]].

::''For the Witch Doctor, we wanted to get a rich, voodoo vibe. We wanted to avoid straight up master-caster feel. He's not just conjuring things out of thin air. WDs don't just channel magic. They take real world objects and infuse them with voodoo magic. Our spell descriptions for the WD were like, "He's going to throw a shrunken head filled with a chemical concoction." Or "He's going to create insect swarms by blowing voodoo dust from his palms." Or "He's going to sprinkle dust in the air and cause illusions and frighten monsters away."''

The team felt that it wouldn't be a real Witch Doctor without [[zombies]]. They go together naturally, but they didn't want normal slow wandering zombies. They mashed the idea of Zombies with the Firewall of previous games and came up with [[Wall of Zombies|zombie wall]].

[[Leonard Boyarsky]] describes the Witch Doctor: [http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/diablo-iii/885172p1.html]

::''The Witch Doctor is angry, someone who's been broken by a life that's dealt a few too many hard knocks and not enough joy. This is someone tired of being smacked in the head, so he uses his mystical powers to get into the heads of others (and if that doesn't work, a swarm of locusts will get under their skin).''

===Necromancer Replacement?===
The WD is clearly {{wl|[http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Necromancer Necromancer]}}-like, in his mixture of summonings, mind control curses, and sub-mage quality magical attacks, but the [[D3 team]] does [[WWI_2008:_D3_Design_Fundamentals_Panel|not view the character as a replacement]] for the Necromancer.

::'''Q:''' Is the witch doctor a replacement or spiritual successor to the {{wl|[http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Necromancer Necro]}}? They seem to have rather similar skills.
::'''A:''' We don't view the Witch Doctor as a replacement. The Necromancer is a very cool char. We thought about him as a class and tried to see if we could improve on him, which is something we did with every class, and that led us to create the Witch Doctor. If we ever decided to make a Necromancer, the Witch Doctor wouldn't prevent us from doing so.

[[Jay Wilson]] commented further on this and detailed what makes the Witch Doctor different than the Necromancer in an interview with 1up.com in December 2008. [http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?pager.offset=1&cId=3172030&p=1]

::We wanted to create a class whose pets were not his primary source of damage output. [...] Most Necromancer builds are very pet heavy. The pets do a lot of the damage, and a lot of mechanics are built around [[debuff]]ing the enemy so your pets can be better against them or taking advantage of the bodies your pets create by blowing them up with corpse explosion.

::The Witch Doctor's pets are more of a distraction -- they're his form of [[crowd control]]. [...] We wanted to have this general notion of a character who controlled all things slimy and gross, like zombies, bats, snakes, and spiders, but he didn't rely on them -- he just throws them out there. [...] Each element is like that, where it's another distraction while the source of primary damage is the Witch Doctor himself. This makes him play very differently than the Necromancer, which was intentional.

==Attributes and Skills==


===Witch Doctor Skills===
The [[Witch Doctor skill]]s are arranged into to three distinctive skill tree categories:
* [[Plague_Skill_Tree|Plague]]
* [[Spirit_Skill_Tree|Spirit]]
* [[Voodoo_Skill_Tree|Voodoo]].
All three trees have a combination of active and passive skills. Active skills are used in combat, while the passive skills boost or change the behaviour of the active skills.

====Plague Skills====
[[Image:Wd-locust-swarm1.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Locust Swarm]]]]
The [[Plague_Skill_Tree|Plague tree skills]] are focused on spells that spread plague-related effects such as a [[Locust Swarm]], [[Plague of Toads|toads]] and diseases. No passive skills have yet been revealed for the Witch Doctor Plague skill tree.
<div style="clear:both;"></div>
====Spirit Skills====
[[Image:Wd-soul-harvest3.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Soul Harvest]]]]
The [[Spirit_Skill_Tree|Spirit tree skills]] will affect gameplay more direct than the Plague Skills. The Witch Doctor summons bats he turns to fire and sends on his enemies, sucking foes life energy out or makes them lose their minds. No passive skills have yet been revealed for the Witch Doctor Spirit skill tree.
<div style="clear:both;"></div>
====Voodoo Skills====
[[Image:Wd-zombie-wall1.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Wall of Zombies]]]]
The [[Voodoo_Skill_Tree|Voodoo tree skills]] all focus more on the darker spectrum of the Witch Doctor. Bringing dead animals back from the grave to fight, or a terrifying wall of Zombies. No passive skills have yet been revealed for the Witch Doctor Voodoo skill tree.
<div style="clear:both;"></div>

==Development==
The Witch Doctor class was unveiled at [[WWI 2008]], together with the [[Barbarian]]. Besides a few name changes for spells, not much had changed for the Witch Doctor by mid June 2009.



==Media==
You can find pictures in the Diablo 3 screenshot and picture gallery:
* [http://www.diii.net/gallery/ Diablo 3 screenshots and pictures]
* [http://www.diii.net/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=all&si=Witch+Doctor Witch Doctor-specific gallery contents]
* [http://www.diii.net/gallery/showgallery.php?si=doctor&x=0&y=0&limit=&thumbsonly=0&perpage=24&cat=546&ppuser=&thumbcheck=0&page=1&sortby=&sorttime=&way=&cat=546 Witch Doctor Screenshots].
* [http://www.diii.net/gallery/showgallery.php?si=witch&x=0&y=0&limit=&thumbsonly=0&perpage=24&cat=563&ppuser=&thumbcheck=0&page=1&sortby=&sorttime=&way=&cat=563 Witch Doctor Concept Art].
* [http://www.diii.net/gallery/showgallery.php?si=witch&x=0&y=0&limit=&thumbsonly=0&perpage=24&cat=550&ppuser=&thumbcheck=0&page=1&sortby=&sorttime=&way=&cat=550 Witch Doctor Wallpapers].

<gallery>
Image:Wd-1.jpg|Witch Doctor in game
Image:Wd-concept1.jpg|WD concept art
Image:Wd-firebats1.jpg|[[Spirit_Skill_Tree#Firebats|Firebats]] unleashed.
Image:Skill_witchdoctor_firebomb.jpg|[[Skull of Flame]] animation shots.
Image:Wd-concept2.jpg|High quality concept
Image:Wd-concept3.jpg|Crazy WD
Image:Wd-concept4.jpg|Male WD concept
Image:Wd-concept5.jpg|Female clothing concepts
Image:Wd-concept6.jpg|Female WD hottie
Image:Wd-concept7.jpg|Male WD action
Image:Wd-concept8.jpg|Female sketches
Image:Witch_Doctors.jpg|Female and male WDs.
</gallery>

==Resources==
* [[Umbaru]]
* [[Tribe of the Five Hills]]
* [[Clan of the Seven Stones]]
* [[Tribe of the Clouded Valley]]
* [[Khazra]]
* [[Torajan Jungles]]
* [[Teganze]]
* [[Mbwiru Eikura]] / [[Unformed Land|The Unformed Land]]
* [[Ghost Trance]]

==References==
* [[Writings of Abd al-Hazir: Entry no. 0013|Writings of Abd al-Hazir: Entry no. 0013: The Witch Doctor]]
* [[Media Coverage|Diablo III Media Coverage Archive]] for all interviews, previews, pictures and more.

{{Class navbox floor}}

[[Category:Umbaru]]
[[Category:Basics]]
[[Category:Lore]]

Stash

2008-12-17T13:37:06Z

Drakk: Added in Shared Stash

A '''Stash''' is a function in Diablo III where a character can store more items than he can carry around.

[[Jay Wilson]] confirmed at BlizzCon 2008 that we will see stashes, they will be bigger than in [[Diablo 2]] and they will also be able to grow later in the game. [http://www.diii.net/blog/comments/blizzcon-press-conference-with-jay-wilson/]

===Shared Stash===
There has also been talk of finally implementing a '''shared stash'''. Finding and collecting items is a big part of the Diablo franchise but storing and transferring those items has always been an issue. [[Jay Wilson]] spoke to this problem in [http://us.blizzard.com/blizzcast/archive/episode5.xml#i1 BlizzCast Episode 5]: "We really want to make it easier for you to be able to share and trade items with other people and other characters on the same account. We've talked about ideas like a '''shared stash''', or a mail system like World of Warcraft has, and we haven't nailed down exactly which one of those we want to do, but we're definitely going to do something like that."

{{stub}}

[[Category:Gameplay]]
[[Category:Game terms]]
[[Category:Basics]]

DiabloWiki Crew

2008-12-17T12:51:31Z

Drakk: Added my name to the list!

This is a list of all users that are somewhat active on DiabloWiki. Feel free to join up, just add your name to the list!

*[[User:Flux|Flux]] - Admin
*[[User:Elly|Elly]] - Admin
*[[User:Rushster|Rushster]] - Admin
*[[User:Leord|Leord]] - Sysop
*[[User:Azymn|Azymn]] - Contributor
*[[User:Melianor|Melianor]] - Contributor
*[[User:Mouseman|Mouseman]] - Contributor
*[[User:Mizantrop|Mizantrop]] - Contributor
*[[User:Drakk|Drakk]] - Contributor

[[Category:DiabloWiki]]

AoE

2008-12-17T12:41:47Z

Drakk: Added pictures and edited and added content

[[Image:Skullofflame multistrike.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Witch Doctor's Skull of Flame.]]
'''Area of Effect''' is a general term for effects, skills, spells or abilities that will affect an area, and the inhabitants of that area, rather than a single target. Also known as '''Splash Damage''' or '''Line Damage'''. Many attacks in [[Diablo III]] will have the potential to affect more than one target. Some skills will need to be upgraded with points in a mastery skill (The [[Wizard]]'s [[Storm Skill Tree#Tornado|Tornado]] originally produces one tornado, but adding skill points to [[Storm Skill Tree#Epic Storms|Epic Storms]] increases the amount of tornados allowed at once) or used in conjunction with [[Rune|Skill Runes]] (The [[Witch Doctor]]'s [[Spirit Skill Tree#Skull of Flame|Skull of Flame]] used with a multi-strike rune allows the skull to ''skip'' along the ground and explode multiple times) to affect muliple targets.

The area that is affected can vary greatly, from a few [[monster]]s up close from a [[Barbarian]] attacking with [[Juggernaut Skill Tree#Cleave|Cleave]], or a dozen monsters being crushed under a [[destructible]] wall.

The effect of an AoE varies from a damaging attack to a [[buff]]/[[debuff]] cast on allies/enemies.
<gallery>
Image:Barb cleave3.jpg|Female Barbarian using Cleave.
Image:Barb-warcry1.jpg|Male Barbarian using Battle Cry.
Image:WD SoulHarvest.jpg|Female Witch Doctor using Soul Harvest.
</gallery>

==AoE Shapes==
The actual area of an AoE skill can be of any shape or size. Some examples are: circular AoE eminating from the player ([[Wizard]]'s [[Storm Skill Tree#Frost Nova|Frost Nova]]), a specific area the player chooses ([[Wizard]]'s [[Conjuring Skill Tree#Meteor Storm|Meteor Storm]]), Line Damage ([[Wizard]]'s [[Arcane Skill Tree#Disintegrate|Disintegrate]]), or jumping from one target to another ([[Wizard]]'s [[Storm Skill Tree#Electrocute|Electrocute]]).

<gallery>
Image:Wiz-FrostNova.jpg|Female Wizard using Frost Nova.
Image:Wiz-meteor1.jpg|Female Wizard using Meteor Storm.
Image:Wiz-Disintegrate.jpg|Female Wizard using Disintegrate.
Image:Wiz-electrocute1.jpg|Female Wizard using Electrocute.
</gallery>

[[Category:Game terms]]
[[Category:Acronyms]]

File:Wiz-Disintegrate.jpg

2008-12-17T10:50:26Z

Drakk: Female Wizard using Disintegrate.

Female Wizard using Disintegrate.

File:Wiz-FrostNova.jpg

2008-12-17T10:39:25Z

Drakk: Female Wizard uses Frost Nova.

Female Wizard uses Frost Nova.

File:WD SoulHarvest.jpg

2008-12-17T10:27:07Z

Drakk: Female Witch Doctor using Soul Harvest.

Female Witch Doctor using Soul Harvest.

File:Barb cleave3.jpg

2008-12-17T10:12:56Z

Drakk: Female Barbarian using Cleave.

Female Barbarian using Cleave.

Soulstone

2008-12-16T10:15:56Z

Drakk: Fixed grammar mistakes.

[[Image:soulstone.jpg|Diablo's soulstone on the Hellforge...|300px|thumb]]
A '''soulstone''' is a magical artifact in the Diablo universe which is used to contain the soul of one of the three prime evils. The heroes of [[Diablo 2]] were tasked with destroying two of the three soulstones, while the whereabouts of the last one is unknown.

Each soulstone belonged to a specific prime evil:
:* [[Diablo]], Lord of Terror - Red
:* [[Mephisto]], Lord of Hatred - Blue
:* [[Baal]], Lord of Destruction - Yellow (this soulstone was damaged and its largest fragment could not contain Baal entirely)

== History of the Soulstones ==

The '''soulstones''' were created under the direction of [[Archangel Tyrael]]. They are thought to have originated from [[The Worldstone]], which was deep within [[Mount Arreat]], which was destroyed by [[Tyrael]] to prevent Baal's corruption of it from bringing any further evil to the world of [[Sanctuary]]. The explosion created by [[The Worldstone]] destroyed [[Mount Arreat]], leaving [[Arreat Crater]] in its wake.

== Scattering of the Soulstones ==

The [[Horadrim]] were charged with keeping the '''soulstones''' after they had successfully captured the three prime evils. They took them to three different locations within [[Sanctuary]], in order to isolate one prime evil in the event that he should escape.

[[Mephisto]]'s soulstone was taken to a [[Zakarum]] temple in Kurast. Mephisto was able to take control of his '''soulstone''', which eventually led to the corruption of the uppermost ranks in the priesthood of the Zakarum.

[[Diablo]]'s soulstone was taken to the [[Horadric]] monastery in [[Tristram]]. The monastery was abandoned when the Horadrim who, having no quests left to undertake, faded into legend. The '''soulstone''' was rediscovered by [[Lazerus]] - a high priest of the [[Zakarum]] - and awoke [[Diablo]]. It is thought that [[Diablo]]s awakening was indirectly caused by Mephisto.

[[Baal]]'s soulstone was taken to the depths of a desert temple in Lut Gholein. Baal damaged his soulstone before he was imprisoned, and thus the largest fragment was not adequate to contain him. [[Tal Rasha]] offered himself as an extension of the damaged '''soulstone''', and Baal was contained. He was later freed by his brother, [[Diablo]] (The [[Dark Wanderer]]), who was accompanied by Marius. Marius held Baal's '''soulstone''' until Baal later retook it.

[[Category:Lore]]
[[Category:Diablo II]]