Difference between revisions of "Grasp of the Dead"

Latest revision as of 17:29, 6 June 2012

Grasp of the Dead is a Secondary Witch Doctor skill unlocked at level 2. This skill is a curse; it inflicts victims with much slower foot speed and deals damage as well, and is hugely useful to a low level Witch Doctor, while retaining good value throughout the game and even in high level PvP.

The rune effects offer various increases on the base skill, including higher damage and greater slowing.

Background[edit | edit source]

Grasp of the Dead in action.

A powerful debuff. This curses the target with much reduced movement speed and deals damage as well. The spell can be cast anywhere in the Witch Doctor's Line of Sight, giving it much more range than most of his spells. As the duration matches the cooldown, it can be kept almost constantly active when recast quickly.

Besides dealing good damage and slowing monsters, it can be used to instantly break all of the destructibles in range

Skill Rune Effects[edit | edit source]

Refer to the Grasp of the Dead rune effects article for thorough descriptions off all five rune effects, including screenshots, videos, and strategy tips.

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="WitchDoctor">Grasp of the Dead</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Unbreakable Grasp">Grasp of the Dead</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Groping Eels">Grasp of the Dead</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Death Is Life">Grasp of the Dead</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Desperate Grasp">Grasp of the Dead</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Rain of Corpses">Grasp of the Dead</skill>

Skill Design[edit | edit source]

Grasp of the Dead vs. Zombies, from the beta.

This skill is very powerful, even with a fairly small radius. Its slowing effect makes sure that enemies remain in the area of effect for longer, and it can be cast below enemies who are engaged in combat with the Witch Doctor's pets or with other players.

Synergies[edit | edit source]

The following Witch Doctor passives provide a benefit to Grasp of the Dead, runed or not:

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="WitchDoctor">Pierce the Veil</skill>

Development[edit | edit source]

Grasp of the Dead was first listed in the BlizzCon 2009 gameplay demo at Tier III in the Zombie Skill Tree, but it had not yet been implemented.

This skill was present on the pre-made Witch Doctor in the BlizzCon 2010 Arena as a Tier 3 skill, and was quite effective. Unfortunately, there are no gameplay reports from the event describing this skill.

Beta[edit | edit source]

Skill tiers were removed shortly before the beta started in September 2011, and Grasp of the Dead became a level 3 skill. Flux was able to try it out in the beta:[1]

While testing this one in the beta, I hardly ever tried to cast it a second time when it wasn’t available. Much more often I was surprised to see that it was already cooled-down and ready to use again. Only the fact that you just don’t *need* to use it keeps it from being on nearly every hotkey list. That and the limited hotkeys in the early game; I think this one will be quite popular in the late game, since it provides a very handy defensive aid and deals good damage as well.

Grasp of the Dead was also one of the skills available in the BlizzCon 2011 PvP Arena, and Adivirgi enjoyed using it:[2]

I also used it to slow down enemies who were chasing my injured team mates. It was also useful in tight areas (around the center of the arena map in this demo), where people were forced to run over it to get to you. I think I would have preferred to rune it with a crimson just to add more damage to its DoT effect. Overall this is a fun ability that requires you to be really quick and lead the enemy’s movement so that it lands just in front of where they are running.

The skill system was once again overhauled for the Beta Patch 13 in February 2012, and Grasp of the Dead was classified as a Secondary skill and moved to level 2. For Beta Patch 14, it was nerfed a little bit, and Beta Patch 15 saw its mana cost increase significantly.

Media[edit | edit source]

Grasp of the Dead can be seen in action on video here:

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

Older graphic, from 2010 Arena demo footage.

References[edit | edit source]

BlizzCon 2009 Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats
BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report
Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
BlizzCon 2011 PvP Demo: The Witch Doctor — IncGamers 27th Oct 2011
Witch Doctor Active Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

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

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-<noinclude>
 [[File:IconGraspDead.png|left]]
-'''Grasp of the Dead''' is a Support [[Witch Doctor skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|level]] 3. This skill is a curse; it inflicts victims with much slower foot speed and deals damage as well. It's highly useful in the [[Arena]] PvP.
+'''Grasp of the Dead''' is a Secondary [[Witch Doctor skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|level]] 2. This skill is a curse; it inflicts victims with much slower foot speed and deals damage as well, and is hugely useful to a low level Witch Doctor, while retaining good value throughout the game and even in high level [[PvP]].
+The rune effects offer various increases on the base skill, including higher damage and greater slowing.
 <br><br>__TOC__
+==Background==
+[[File:Diablo_III_Logo.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Grasp of the Dead in action.]]
+A powerful debuff. This curses the target with much reduced movement speed and deals damage as well. The spell can be cast anywhere in the Witch Doctor's [[Line of Sight]], giving it much more range than most of his spells.  As the duration matches the cooldown, it can be kept almost constantly active when recast quickly.
-==Background==
+Besides dealing good damage and slowing monsters, it can be used to instantly break all of the destructibles in range
-[[File:Diablo_III_Logo.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Grasp of the Dead in action]]
-A powerful debuff. This curses the target with much reduced movement speed and deals damage as well.
-==Skill Effects==
+==Skill Rune Effects==
-The following is a very quick list. See the [[Grasp of the Dead 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.
+Refer to the [[Grasp of the Dead rune effects]] article for thorough descriptions off all five rune effects, including screenshots, videos, and strategy tips.
-{{Active skills header}}
+{{skill description header}}
-<noinclude>{{Witch Doctor Skill Grasp of the Dead}}
+<skill class="WitchDoctor">Grasp of the Dead</skill>
-{{Witch Doctor Skillrune Groping Eels}}
+<skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Unbreakable Grasp">Grasp of the Dead</skill>
-{{Witch Doctor Skillrune Rain of Corpses}}
+<skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Groping Eels">Grasp of the Dead</skill>
-{{Witch Doctor Skillrune Unbreakable Grasp}}
+<skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Death Is Life">Grasp of the Dead</skill>
-{{Witch Doctor Skillrune Desperate Grasp}}
+<skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Desperate Grasp">Grasp of the Dead</skill>
-{{Witch Doctor Skillrune Death is Life}}
+<skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Rain of Corpses">Grasp of the Dead</skill>
-</noinclude>
-{{center|Note: Information is based on a level 60 character and rank 7 runestones.}}
 ==Skill Design==
-[[File:Arena-GotD1.png|thumb|400px|Runed Grasp of the Dead cast on a Wizard.]]
+[[File:Grasp-of-the-dead-zombies1.jpg|thumb|350px|Grasp of the Dead vs. Zombies, from the beta.]]
-This [[skill]] is powerful, but has a very small radius of effect. Possibly this can be increased with a [[runestone]]. As it is, GotD requires precise aim and timing to hit a moving target.
+This [[skill]] is very powerful, even with a fairly small radius. Its slowing effect makes sure that enemies remain in the area of effect for longer, and it can be cast below enemies who are engaged in combat with the Witch Doctor's pets or with other players.
 ==Synergies==
-* No [[synergies]] with any of the [[passive skill]]s are yet known.
+The following [[Witch Doctor passives]] provide a benefit to Grasp of the Dead, runed or not:
+{{skill description header}}
+<skill class="WitchDoctor">Pierce the Veil</skill>
@@ Line 36: / Line 41: @@
 '''Grasp of the Dead''' was first listed in the [[BlizzCon 2009]] gameplay demo at Tier III in the [[Zombie Skill Tree]], but it had not yet been implemented.
-This skill was present on the pre-made Witch Doctor in the [[Blizzcon 2010]] [[Arena]] as a Tier 3 skill, and was quite effective. Skill tiers were removed for the [[July 2011 Press Event]], and Grasp of the Dead became a level 3 skill.
+This skill was present on the pre-made Witch Doctor in the [[BlizzCon 2010]] [[Arena]] as a Tier 3 skill, and was quite effective. Unfortunately, there are no gameplay reports from the event describing this skill.
+===Beta===
+Skill tiers were removed shortly before the [[beta]] started in September 2011, and Grasp of the Dead became a level 3 skill. [[Flux]] was able to try it out in the beta:[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/witch-doctor-beta-skills-mega-report]
+<blockquote>''While testing this one in the beta, I hardly ever tried to cast it a second time when it wasn’t available. Much more often I was surprised to see that it was already cooled-down and ready to use again. Only the fact that you just don’t *need* to use it keeps it from being on nearly every hotkey list. That and the limited hotkeys in the early game; I think this one will be quite popular in the late game, since it provides a very handy defensive aid and deals good damage as well.</blockquote>
+Grasp of the Dead was also one of the skills available in the [[BlizzCon 2011]] PvP [[Arena]], and Adivirgi enjoyed using it:[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcon-arena-demo-witch-doctor-report]
+<blockquote>''I also used it to slow down enemies who were chasing my injured team mates. It was also useful in tight areas (around the center of the arena map in this demo), where people were forced to run over it to get to you. I think I would have preferred to rune it with a crimson just to add more damage to its DoT effect. Overall this is a fun ability that requires you to be really quick and lead the enemy’s movement so that it lands just in front of where they are running.</blockquote>
+The skill system was once again overhauled for the [[Beta Patch 13]] in February 2012, and Grasp of the Dead was classified as a Secondary skill and moved to level 2. For [[Beta Patch 14]], it was [[nerf]]ed a little bit, and [[Beta Patch 15]] saw its mana cost increase significantly.
@@ Line 54: / Line 69: @@
-<!--
 <gallery>
-Image:Diablo_III_Logo.jpg|Skill use 1
+File:Arena-GotD1.png|Older graphic, from 2010 Arena demo footage.
 </gallery>
--->
 ==References==
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/full-witch-doctor-skills/ BlizzCon 2009 Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats]
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvp-arena-report/ BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report]
-* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7960229#post7960229 Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report] -- IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7960229#post7960229 Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report] — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
-* [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/ Witch Doctor Active Skills] -- Diablo III 13th Sep 2011
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcon-arena-demo-witch-doctor-report BlizzCon 2011 PvP Demo: The Witch Doctor] — IncGamers 27th Oct 2011
+* [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/ Witch Doctor Active Skills] — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site
+{{Skill navbox Diablo III|WD|secondary}}
-{{Skill navbox Diablo III|WD}}
+[[category:Active skills]]
 [[category:Witch Doctor skills]]
-[[category:Active skills]]
+[[category:Witch Doctor active skills]]
-</noinclude>

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