Difference between revisions of "Plague of Toads"

Revision as of 16:23, 13 September 2011

Plague of Toads is a Witch Doctor skill enabled at level 2, which summons a pack of poisonous toads who hop into enemies and explode, dealing poison damage.

Background

Diablo III Active Skill [e]

Plague of Toads
Used by:	Witch Doctor
Enabled at:	Clvl 2
Skill Description
Release a handful of toads that deal poison damage to anybody who steps on them.
Type:	Damage/AoE
Resource Use:	Costs Mana
Skill Rune Effects
Alabaster rune:	Blinding gas
Crimson rune:	Fire damage
Golden rune:	Reduced cost
Indigo rune:	Rain of toads
Obsidian rune:	One giant toad

The Witch Doctor sends forth toads that hop into enemies, exploding in an acidic blast.

Skill Effects

The following is a very quick list. See the Plague of Toads rune effects page for a more thorough summary of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.

Skill		Effect
Plague of Toads (Level 2)		Release a handful of toads that deal 71 - 99 Poison damage to enemies they come in contact with. Cost: 211 Mana.
	Explosive Toads	Mutate to red bullfrogs that explode for 156 - 219 Fire damage.
	Rain of Toads	Hail a rain of toads down from the sky that deals 170 Poison damage per second to enemies in the area for 1.5 seconds.
	Toad of Hugeness	Summon a giant toad that swallows enemies whole for up to 5 seconds, digesting for 64 physical damage per second. This rune adds a 5 second cooldown to the skill.
	Toad Affinity	Reduces Mana cost to 62 Mana.
	Addling Toads	Mutate to yellow frogs that deal 114 - 159 Poison damage and confuse affected enemies for 2 seconds.

Note: Information is based on a level 60 character and rank 7 runestones.

Skill Design

The toads behave much like Charged Bolts, scattering out from the Witch Doctor and spreading out semi-randomly. The accuracy of this skill with just one cast is suspect. It's best spammed, cast six or eight times in rapid succession against a large number of attackers, especially if the enemies are moving around erratically and are thus more likely to encounter multiple toads each.

Runestones can change this strategy, of course.

Synergies

No synergies with any of the passive skills are yet known.

Skill Rune Effects

The rune effects for Plague of Toads were revealed at BlizzCon 2010 by Wyatt Cheng in the gameplay panel.^[1]

Plague of Toads rune options.

Alabaster rune: The toads also blind enemies.
Crimson rune: Flaming toads add fire damage to their attack.
Golden rune: Reduced cost per cast. From PCG issue 221-- it adds more toads per cast.
Indigo rune: Changes the skill to a rain of toads, which fall down on the targeted location.
Obsidian rune: One huge frog that uses a sticky tongue to capture and consume monsters in one bite. It spits out the treasure and items. Can eat Champions (possibly only at higher/highest rune level?), but not bosses or (presumably) bigger enemies.
- Bashiok (jokingly?) said[1] that the mega-toad would "lick them to death" when faced with monsters it could not eat in one shot.
- In comments to that same news post, Exile, a fan who tried this skill with the Obsidian rune at Blizzcon 2010, reported that the toad would eat bosses, deal some damage, then spit them back out. This forced the other players in the party to stand and wait while the toad chewed up the boss, before hacking it back out so the battle could go on. This is likely a temporary state of affairs, and the "lick to death" option sounds more viable for a final game solution.

Development

Plague of Toads was first seen in the BlizzCon 2008 gameplay demo. The old version was in the Plague Skill Tree (later renamed to Zombie Skill Tree), and the toads were a green/gray-ish color. Flux had the opportunity to try the skill:[2]

Plague of Toads were great fun to use too, though less damaging than Firebats. At level 1 (the only level possible for active spells in the Blizzcon demo) the WD tossed out three toads, which then hopped forward like scaly, slimy, living Charged Bolts. They weren’t entirely mindless—they homed in on enemies, and exploded with a splat of green acid (poison) when they hit a target. If there was no target in range, the toads would hop 3 or 4 times, covering maybe half the visible screen, before bursting in air. They left behind splats of acid on the ground that would damage enemies who stood in it.

For BlizzCon 2009, Plague of Toads was at Tier III in the Voodoo Skill Tree. Their color was enhanced to a sort of yellowish orange, but their intelligence seemed to have downgraded. Flux explained:[3]

While the looks were upgraded, their function had been lessened a bit. The toads are stupider, more like the amphibian Charged Bolts they sort of resemble. They no longer home in on targets, and very seldom do you hit a normal target with more than one toad from the same cast. That might be less true at higher levels (or with the multi-strike rune socketed), as you gain more toads.

Plague of Toads was available in the BlizzCon 2010 gameplay demo as a Tier 1 skill in the new tree-less system, but it wasn't one of the Witch Doctor's starting skills. Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, and Plague of Toads became a level 2 skill.

Previous Versions

See the Witch Doctor skill archive for more details on previous versions of Plague of Toads and other Witch Doctor skills.

Media

Plague of Toads can be seen in action on video here:

You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:

Toads on a Dune Thresher.
A Beast feeling the explosive nature of toads.
Larger image.

References

↑ BlizzCon 2010 Gameplay Panel Transcript

BlizzCon 2008 Witch Doctor Gameplay Report
BlizzCon 2009 Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats
@Diablo on Crafted Sets and Toad Licking -- Incgamers 12th Dec 2010
Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report -- IncGamers 1st Aug 2011

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer primary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer secondary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer corpses

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer bloodandbone

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer reanimation

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer curses

[1] BlizzCon 2010 Gameplay Panel Transcript

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[File:IconPlagueToads.jpg|left]]
+[[File:IconPlagueToads.png|left]]
 '''Plague of Toads''' is a [[Witch Doctor skill]] enabled at [[clvl|level]] 2, which summons a pack of poisonous toads who hop into enemies and explode, dealing poison damage.
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 The Witch Doctor sends forth toads that hop into enemies, exploding in an acidic blast.
+==Skill Effects==
+The following is a very quick list. See the [[Plague of Toads rune effects]] page for a more thorough summary of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.
+{{Active skill header}}
+</noinclude>
+{{Skill effects|Plague of Toads|IconPlagueToads.png|([[clvl|Level]] 2)|
+Release a handful of toads that deal {{c_lime|71 - 99}} Poison damage to enemies they come in contact with.<br>Cost: {{c_lime|211}} Mana.}}
+| width="40px" | [[image:IconCrimson.jpg|40px|link=Crimson]]
+| width="140px" | [[Explosive Toads]]
+| Mutate to red bullfrogs that explode for {{c_lime|156 - 219}} Fire damage.
+|-
+| width="40px" | [[image:IconIndigo.jpg|40px|link=Indigo]]
+| [[Rain of Toads]]
+| Hail a rain of toads down from the sky that deals {{c_lime|170}} Poison damage per second to enemies in the area for {{c_lime|1.5}} seconds.
+|-
+| width="40px" | [[image:IconObsidian.jpg|40px|link=Obsidian]]
+| [[Toad of Hugeness]]
+| Summon a giant toad that swallows enemies whole for up to {{c_lime|5}} seconds, digesting for {{c_lime|64}} physical damage per second.<br>{{c_grey|This rune adds a {{c_lime|5}} second cooldown to the skill.}}
+|-
+| width="40px" | [[image:IconGolden.jpg|40px|link=Golden]]
+| [[Toad Affinity]]
+| Reduces Mana cost to {{c_lime|62}} Mana.
+|-
+| width="40px" | [[image:IconAlabaster.jpg|40px|link=Alabaster]]
+| [[Addling Toads]]
+| Mutate to yellow frogs that deal {{c_lime|114 - 159}} Poison damage and confuse affected enemies for {{c_lime|2}} seconds.
+|-
+<noinclude>
+|}
+<p style="text-align:center">Note: Information is based on a level 60 character and rank 7 runestones.</p>
@@ Line 29: / Line 60: @@
 Runestones can change this strategy, of course.
-==Skill Rank Table==
-[[Image:Wd-plague-toads1.jpg|thumb|400px|GO-GO-GADGET TOADS!]]
-* '''Rank 1:''' Release a handful of toads that deal 6-9 poison damage to anybody who steps on them. Cost: 9 mana.
-* '''Rank 2:''' Release a handful of toads that deal 8-11 poison damage to anybody who steps on them. Cost: 9 mana. (A)
-* '''Rank 3:''' Release a handful of toads that deal 10-13 poison damage to anybody who steps on them. Cost: 9 mana. (A)
-* '''Rank 4:''' Release a handful of toads that deal 12-15 poison damage to anybody who steps on them. Cost: 9 mana. (A)
-* '''Rank 5:''' Release a handful of toads that deal 14-17 poison damage to anybody who steps on them. Cost: 9 mana. (A)
-(A) = Assumed

Fan-made Classes			Fan-made Skills [e]
• Alchemist • Arcane Warrior • Artisan • Aurian Mage • Bard • Channeller • Dragon Warrior	• Flagellant • Giant (U) • Hollow Man • Nomad • Onaga Manji • Phase Knight	• Ranger • Slayer (U) • Techpriest (U) • Telepath • Untainted (U) • Zealot	Dragon Warrior Skills • Bow and Throwing Skill Tree • Dragon Disciplines Skill Tree • Martial Arts Skill Tree	Untainted Skills • Divine Skill Tree	Aurian Mage Skill • Holy Power Skill Tree • Shadow Spells Skill Tree • Nature Forces Skill Tree
(U) = Unfinished				Untainted Skills • Divine Skill Tree