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 [[{{iw|Necromancer]] Necromancer}} of [[Diablo II]], in its ability to summon pets of various types, as well as cast some mind control spells.
The Witch Doctor is a much more active, spell-attacking class than the Necromancer was, though. A Witch Doctor can not succeed just summoning pets and sitting back; he must venture in much closer to the fray, constantly using attack spells to supplement the damage dealt by various short-lived pets.
::''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).''
==Witch Doctor Skills==
The [[==Witch Doctor skill]]s were arranged in three skill trees, [[Zombie_Skill_Tree|Zombie]], [[Spirit_Skill_Tree|Spirit]], and [[Voodoo_Skill_Tree|Voodoo]], prior to 2010. They have since been arranged into one large list. The following is a very short version of it; see the [[Witch Doctor skills]] for a more complete list, or view any of the individual skills articles.Active Skills==
Tier One Skills* The [[Summon Witch Doctor skill]]s were arranged in three skill trees, [[Zombie_Skill_Tree|Zombie Dog]] -- The Witch Doctor summons a zombie dog , [[Spirit_Skill_Tree|Spirit]], and [[Voodoo_Skill_Tree|Voodoo]], prior to aid him2010.* The [[Plague of Toadsskills]] -- Release a handful of toads that hop out across and [[skill tree]] systems were entirely revised in 2010, and the screen active skills were arranged into one large list. At [[BlizzCon 2010]] in semi-random directionsOctober Blizzard revealed the new skill system, with all [[passive skills]] moved to [[traits]]. Toads burst upon contact with an enemyHowever, dealing poison damage and leaving a small puddle on At the ground[[July 2011 Press Event]], it was revealed that [[traits]] had been changed back to [[passive skills]].
Tier Two Skills[[Image:Wd-locust-swarm1.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Locust Swarm]].]]* [[Zombie Charger]] -- Summon a zombie that charges straight forward, disintegrating into a damaging cloud of poison.* [[Corpse Spiders]] -- Summon spiders to attack nearby enemies. The spiders emerge from following is a rotting zombie corpsevery quick list.* See the [[HauntWitch Doctor skills]] -- Launchs page for a ghostly creature that latches onto enemiesmore thorough summary, dealing [[Arcane]] damage over time. IF or any of the target dies while the Haunt is active, it will [[chain]] to another nearby enemyindividual skills pages for full information.
Tier Three Skills* [[Poison Dart]] -- The WD fires a dart that deals poison damage upon impact, and more over time.* [[Summon Zombie Dogs]] - The Witch Doctor summons a zombie dog to aid him.* [[Plague of Toads]] - Release a handful of toads that hop out across the screen in semi-random directions. Toads burst upon contact with an enemy, dealing poison damage and leaving a small puddle on the ground.* [[Grasp of the Dead]] -- A debuff curse, this slows and damages enemies for a short duration.* [[HexHaunt]] -- Summon Launchs a ghostly creature that latches onto enemies, dealing [[Fetish ShamanArcane]] which will hex enemies into chickens. Hexed enemies are unable to perform offensive actions and take additional damage from attacksover time.* IF the target dies while the Haunt is active, it will [[Sacrificechain]] -- Detonate one of your [[Mongrels]], dealing substantial damage to another nearby enemies.* [[Soul Harvest]] -- A spell-casting buff. This grants increased increased spell damage for every enemy within the effective radius, for a limited time.
Tier Four Skills
* [[Firebats]] -- An inferno-like spray of flaming bats damages all enemies in the line of fire.
* [[Locust Swarm]] -- Fire a plague of locusts that swarm over enemies, dealing physical damage over time. If the enemy dies the locusts will [[chain]] to other nearby targets.
Tier Five Skills* [[Image:WdZombie Charger]] -Summon a zombie-wall1that charges straight forward, disintegrating into a damaging cloud of poison.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Wall of Zombies]]]]* [[Acid CloudHex]] -- A Summon a [[DfAFetish Shaman]] spell that rains acid down on a small radius, dealing poison damage which will hex enemies into chickens. Hexed enemies are unable to the target perform offensive actions and leaving a [[DoT]] puddle behindtake additional damage from attacks.* [[FirebombCorpse Spiders]] -- Lob an skull that explodes on impact, dealing fire damage Summon spiders to all attack nearby enemies. The spiders emerge from a rotting zombie corpse.* [[Horrify]] -- A horrifying giant Witch Doctor appears overhead, frightening away any nearby enemies.* [[Wall of ZombiesFirebats]] -An inferno- A long row like spray of zombies erupt from flaming bats damages all enemies in the earth and attack nearby enemiesline of fire.
Tier Six Skills
* [[Gargantuan]] -- Summon a large zombie to fight for you.
* [[Mass Confusion]] -- A curse that causes enemies in the vicinity to switch allegiances, fighting against their fellow for a short duration.
* [[Pit of Fire]] -- Summons gang of [[Fetish]]es, which attack enemies, dealing fire damage to all nearby.
* [[Spirit Walk]] -- An escape/movement skill that allows the Witch Doctor to leave his empty husk of a body behind and run, moving freely in the spirit realm for several seconds.
Tier Seven Skills* [[Fetish ArmyFirebomb]] -- Summon Lob an army of skull that explodes on impact, dealing fire damage to all nearby enemies.* [[FetishSpirit Walk]]es - An escape/movement skill that allows the Witch Doctor to fight by your side leave his empty husk of a body behind and run, moving freely in the spirit realm for a short durationseveral seconds.* [[ParasiteSoul Harvest]] -A spell- Launch a Parasite at an enemycasting buff. The Parasite deals This grants increased increased spell damage over time; if the for every enemy dies while within the Parasite remains activeeffective radius, for a limited time.* [[Sacrifice]] - Detonate one of your [[Zombie DogMongrels]] will emerged from the corpse, dealing substantial damage to nearby enemies.* [[Spirit BarrageGargantuan]] -- A powerful DfA skill, this brings down Summon a bombardment of spirits that deal Arcane damage large zombie to anything in the radiusfight for you.
==Witch Doctor Traits== This is a very quick listing[[Image:Wd-locust-swarm1. See the jpg|thumb|250px|[[Witch Doctor traitsLocust Swarm]] article for more detail, or click to any of the individual traits for full stats and info. Level required: Under 10]]* [[Toughness (trait)|ToughnessLocust Swarm]] -- Increases Fire a plague of locusts that swarm over enemies, dealing physical damage over time. If the enemy dies the locusts will [[vitalitychain]]to other nearby targets.* [[Unbreakable WillSpirit Barrage]] -- Increases [[willpower]]A powerful DfA skill, this brings down a bombardment of spirits that deal Arcane damage to anything in the radius.* [[Spirit Vessel (trait)|Spirit Vessel]] Image:Wd-zombie- The Witch Doctor gains wall1.jpg|thumb|250px|[[manaWall of Zombies]] whenever he picks up a [[health globe]]:* [[Mana Regeneration (trait)|Mana RegenerationAcid Cloud]] -- Regenerate more mana per second.* A [[Mind DfA]] spell that rains acid down on a small radius, dealing poison damage to the target and Body (trait)|Mind and Bodyleaving a [[DoT]] -- Regenerate more health per secondpuddle behind.* [[LuckyMass Confusion]] -- Causes monsters A curse that causes enemies in the vicinity to drop larger amounts of goldswitch allegiances, fighting against their fellow for a short duration. Level requirement: 11* [[Death Pact (trait)|Death PactBig Bad Voodoo]] -- Reduces damage taken when the Witch Doctor is under 50% healthUnknown.
Level requirement: 15
* [[Ritual of Blood (trait)|Ritual of Blood]] -- 50% of mana costs go to health.
* [[Leader of the Pack (trait)|Leader of the Pack]] -- +5% damage to Zombie Dogs.
* [[Meditation]] -- Spirit skills give back 30% of their mana cost back over 10 seconds.
* [[Wall of Zombies]] - A long row of zombies erupt from the earth and attack nearby enemies.
* [[Fetish Army]] - Summon an army of [[Fetish]]es to fight by your side for a short duration.
Level requirement: 19
* [[Rituals (trait)|Rituals]] -- Increases spell damage by a percentage of your Vitality.
* [[Blood Rites]] -- Health globes give you increased damage done for a few seconds.
==Witch Doctor Passive Skills==
Level requirement: 23* [[Staff Specialization]] -- Increases damage done by skills when the Witch Doctor This is wielding a staffvery quick listing.* See the [[Right-HandedWitch Doctor skills]] -- Increases damage done by article for more details, or click on any of the individual passive skills when the Witch Doctor is wielding a weapon in his/her right handfor full stats and info.
Level requirement: 27* [[Mana Regeneration]] - Regenerates more [[mana]] per second.* [[AssassinMind and Body]] -Regenerates more health per second.* [[Spiritual Attunement]] - Increases damage when the Witch Doctor is wielding a daggermaximum [[mana]].* [[Unrelenting AssaultCare of the Master]] -- Gives a chance Increases the health of a Zombie Dog will be brought back to life when it diespets.* [[Natural LeaderQuickening]] -- UnknownIncreases casting speed.
Level requirement: 31* [[Spirit Vessel]] - The Witch Doctor gains [[mana]] whenever he picks up a [[health globe]].* [[Beast HunterAggression]] -Increases [[attack]].* [[Expert Defense]] - Damage bonus against Increases [[Beastsdefense]].* [[DemonsbaneSuperior Skill]] -- Damage bonus against Increases [[Demonsprecision]].* [[Just... Stay... Dead!Toughness]] -- Damage bonus against Increases [[Undeadvitality]].
Level requirement: 35* [[Death Pact]] - Reduces damage taken when the Witch Doctor is low on health.* [[Superior Skill (trait)|Superior SkillLeader of the Pack]] -Increases damage dealt by Zombie Dogs.* [[Ritual of Blood]] - Increases Part of [[Dexteritymana]]costs for skills are taken from health.* [[Spirit LinkFerocity]] -Increases damage done by pets.* [[Plagued]] - Part of Increases damage taken is instead redirected to your summonsdone by [[Animal skills]] and [[Plague skills]].
Level requirement: 39
* [[Spiritual Attunement (trait)|Spiritual Attunement]] -- Increases your maximum mana.
* [[Cruelty (trait)|Cruelty]] -- Increases your chance of dealing [[critical hit]]s.
* [[Rituals]] - Increases spell damage by a percentage of health.
* [[Zombie Master]] - Increases damage done by [[Zombie skills]].
Level requirement: 43
* [[Fetish Leader]] -- Increases damage done by Fetish skills.
* [[Plagued (trait)|Plagued]] -- Increases damage done by Animal and Plague skills.
* [[Zombie Master (trait)|Zombie Master]] -- Increases damage done by Zombie skills.
===Witch Doctor Traits===Level requirement: 47* Many [[Ferocity (trait)|Ferocitytraits]] -- Increases damage done by your summons.* were preserved as [[Quickening (trait)|Quickeningpassive skills]] -- Increases your casting speed, but a lot them were dropped.* See the [[Care of the Master (trait)|Care of the MasterWitch Doctor traits]] -- Increases page for full info on what the health of your summonstraits system looked like.
::This is all part of the D3 team’s plan to make all of the attributes useful to all characters, and to make more types of modifiers useful/essential to spell casters. We don’t know enough yet to judge how well it’s working, but it should be a substantial change from how spell damage was calculated and scaled up (or not) in D2.
==Mana Resource==
::But the key is that we don’t necessarily want to... we don’t want to cannibalize an existing gameplay mechanic. So when you take health globes that are already important, and you make them even more important, then that doesn’t really create gameplay. For the WD, the health globes weren’t that important a lot of times, since he very rarely took damage with his pets, so for him by enhancing his desire for health globes, we’re really putting gameplay where it wasn’t. So whatever we’re designing a class that’s what we look at.
==Class Background==
As related in the [[Writings of Abd al-Hazir: Entry no. 0013|13th entry in the writings]] of [[Abd al-Hazir]].
<blockquote>''Most believe the fearsome [[witch doctor]] of the [[umbaru]] race a legend, but I have seen one in battle with my own eyes. And it was difficult to believe, even then. He dispatched his opponent with terrifying precision, assaulting his victim's mind and body with elixirs and powders that evoked fires, explosions, and poisonous spirits. As if these assaults were not enough, the witch doctor also had at his command the ability to summon [[undead]] creatures from the netherworld to rend the flesh from his enemy's body.
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''I came upon this rare display as I ventured deep into the interior of the dense [[Torajan]] jungles that cover the southern tip of the great eastern continent, in the vast area known as the [[Teganze]], with the goal of seeking out the tribes that reside there. This area is extremely secluded, and heretofore unseen by foreign eyes. I was fortunate to befriend the witch doctor I saw in battle, and, through him, his tribe: the [[Tribe of the Five Hills]].
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''The culture of the umbaru of the lower Teganze is fascinating and perplexing to those hailing from more civilized walks of life. For instance, the Tribe of the Five Hills frequently engages in tribal warfare with both the [[Clan of the Seven Stones]] and the [[Tribe of the Clouded Valley]], but these are matters of ritual and not of conquest. I had heard tales that these wars are waged in order that the victors may replenish their supply of raw materials for the human sacrifices that their civilization revolves around, and when I timidly asked my hosts more about this topic, I must admit their laughter made me fear for my safety. However, through stumbled attempts at communication of such complex topics as what constitutes heroism and honor in their society, I gathered that only those taken in battle are considered worthy of the ritual sacrifice, much to my relief.
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''Upon further discussions with my hosts, I discovered that these tribes define themselves by their belief in the [[Mbwiru Eikura]], which roughly translates to "[[Unformed Land|The Unformed Land]]" (this is an imprecise translation, as this concept is completely foreign to our culture and language). This belief holds that the true, sacred reality is veiled behind the physical one we normally experience. Their vitally important public ceremonies are centered upon sacrifices to the life force that flows from their gods, who inhabit the Unformed Land, into this lesser physical realm.
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''The [[witch doctor]]s are finely attuned to this Unformed Land and are able to train their minds to perceive this reality 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]].
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''Alongside the primacy of the belief in the life force and the Unformed Land, 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. This idea, so foreign to our culture, struck me as something I wished to delve into much more deeply.
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''Unfortunately, there was intense social upheaval among the tribes due to an incident involving their most current war (inasmuch as I could discern in the ensuing bedlam), and the charged atmosphere warranted my quick departure before I could ask anything further of my hosts.''</blockquote>
Use only if actual trivia. If so, add to [[:Category:Trivia]] as well
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