Difference between revisions of "Zombie Charger"

Latest revision as of 16:28, 15 April 2015

Zombies charge in a zoomed in Beta view.

Zombie Charger is a Decay Witch Doctor skill unlocked at level 14. It summons a zombie that charges forward, disintegrating rapidly into a poison cloud. Though the spell has a short range, the zombie deals considerable poison damage and has a piercing effect as it passed through and damages any number of enemies over the short course of its travel.

Background[edit | edit source]

The base version of this skill essentially functions as a poison cloud that spreads disease to everything in a short path in front of the Witch Doctor.

Skill Rune Effects[edit | edit source]

Name	Level	Description

<skill subcat="Physical realm spell" class="WitchDoctor">Zombie Charger</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Pile On">Zombie Charger</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Undeath">Zombie Charger</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Lumbering Cold">Zombie Charger</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Explosive Beast">Zombie Charger</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Zombie Bears">Zombie Charger</skill>

Skill Design[edit | edit source]

The zombie is humanoid, but it disintegrates so quickly into a green smoke that it's hard to get a good look at it.

Synergies[edit | edit source]

The following Witch Doctor passives provide a benefit to Zombie Charger, runed or not:

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="WitchDoctor">Bad Medicine</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor">Pierce the Veil</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor">Fetish Sycophants</skill>

Development[edit | edit source]

Zombie Charger in action.

Zombie Charger first appeared at BlizzCon 2009 at Tier II in the Zombie Skill Tree, but wasn't implemented yet. At BlizzCon 2010, it was one of the Witch Doctor's starting skills, but was nearly useless unruned. Flux explained:[1]

It’s hard to use, since it has so little range; it’s hardly more than melee distance, and doesn’t work at the usual range a player assumes, a few paces behind the front line where the Mongrels are tanking. You have to learn to stand closer, almost at melee range to get any real effect from the skill. It’s not like a poison bolt, where as long as it gets to the enemy the full damage is done. The zombie doesn’t actually hit anything; it’s not a projectile. It’s just passes through them, trailing poison. So enemies it passes over and through take a lot of damage. Enemies it just barely gets to only receive a little splash of damage that hardly registers.

Beta[edit | edit source]

Skill tiers were removed shortly before the beta started in September 2011, and Zombie Charger became a level 5 skill. Flux tried it out again, and found it essentially unchanged:[2]

Zombie Charger is mildly useful in the beta, but only when aimed carefully and in certain situations. The skill creates a zombie that walks forward in a straight line, disintegrating into a cloud of green, poisonous smoke as it moves. The damage isn’t huge, but it can pass through multiple enemies if they’re very tightly bunched, and will deal the full damage to all of them.

The skill system was once again overhauled for the Beta Patch 13 in February 2012, and Zombie Charger was classified as a Decay skill and moved to level 14, out of the reach of beta players. Despite being nerfed in Beta Patch 14, it does the same damage in Beta Patch 15 as it did in Patch 13, albeit at a higher mana cost.

The skill was improved during the beta test; given better pathfinding so it didn't get stuck in place by hitting any tiny corner of a wall or other object.

Media[edit | edit source]

Zombie Charger can be seen in action on video here:

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

Zoomed-in view from the beta.

References[edit | edit source]

BlizzCon 2009 Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats
BlizzCon 2010 Witch Doctor Hands-on Report
Julian Love @ Blizzcon 2010 Interview — Slashdot 25th Oct 2010
Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
Witch Doctor Beta Skills Mega-report: Part One — IncGamers 30th Sep 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: @@
-'''Zombie Charger''' is a [[Witch Doctor]] Tier 2 [[Witch Doctor skills|skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|level]] 3.
+[[File:IconZombieCharger.png|left]]
-It summons a zombie that charges forward, disintegrating rapidly into a poison cloud; it deals considerable poison damage, but the range is quite short.
+[[File:Zombie-charger-zoom1.jpg|thumb|350px|Zombies charge in a [[zoom]]ed in [[Beta]] view.]]
+'''Zombie Charger''' is a Decay [[Witch Doctor skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|level]] 14. It summons a zombie that charges forward, disintegrating rapidly into a poison cloud. Though the spell has a short range, the zombie deals considerable poison damage and has a piercing effect as it passed through and damages any number of enemies over the short course of its travel.
+<br><br><br>__TOC__
 ==Background==
-{{Skillbox
-|game= Diablo III
-|portrait=ZombieCharger.gif
-|portrait-width= 150
-|active= Active
-|name= Zombie Charger
-|ranks= 5
-|user= Witch Doctor
-|tree= Tier 2
-|description= A reckless, suicidal zombie deals poison damage to all enemies in its way.
-|type= Summon
-|quantity= Cast
-|effect= Target
-|school= [[Magical]]
-|resource= [[Mana]]
-|cost= 12
-|cast-time= Unknown
-|cooldown= Unknown
-|synergies= Unknown
-}}
 The base version of this [[skill]] essentially functions as a poison cloud that spreads disease to everything in a short path in front of the Witch Doctor.
+==Skill Rune Effects==
+{{skill description header}}
+<skill subcat="Physical realm spell" class="WitchDoctor">Zombie Charger</skill>
+<skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Pile On">Zombie Charger</skill>
+<skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Undeath">Zombie Charger</skill>
+<skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Lumbering Cold">Zombie Charger</skill>
+<skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Explosive Beast">Zombie Charger</skill>
+<skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Zombie Bears">Zombie Charger</skill>
 ==Skill Design==
-The zombie is humanoid, but it disintegrates so quickly into a green acid that it's hard to get a good look at it.
+The zombie is humanoid, but it disintegrates so quickly into a green smoke that it's hard to get a good look at it.
+==Synergies==
+The following [[Witch Doctor passives]] provide a benefit to Zombie Charger, runed or not:
+{{skill description header}}
+<skill class="WitchDoctor">Bad Medicine</skill>
+<skill class="WitchDoctor">Pierce the Veil</skill>
+<skill class="WitchDoctor">Fetish Sycophants</skill>
-==Skill Rank Table==
-* '''Rank 1:''' Summons a zombie from the ground that charges forward and deals X damage to all enemies it touches.
+==Development==
+[[File:ZombieCharger.gif|thumb|200px|right|Zombie Charger in action.]]
+'''Zombie Charger''' first appeared at [[BlizzCon 2009]] at Tier II in the [[Zombie Skill Tree]], but wasn't implemented yet. At [[BlizzCon 2010]], it was one of the Witch Doctor's starting skills, but was nearly useless unruned. [[Flux]] explained:[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvm-report-witch-doctor]
+<blockquote>''It’s hard to use, since it has so little range; it’s hardly more than melee distance, and doesn’t work at the usual range a player assumes, a few paces behind the front line where the Mongrels are tanking.  You have to learn to stand closer, almost at melee range to get any real effect from the skill. It’s not like a poison bolt, where as long as it gets to the enemy the full damage is done. The zombie doesn’t actually hit anything; it’s not a projectile. It’s just passes through them, trailing poison. So enemies it passes over and through take a lot of damage.  Enemies it just barely gets to only receive a little splash of damage that hardly registers.</blockquote>
-==[[Synergies]]==
-Numerous [[Witch Doctor traits]] increase his spell damage across the board, as well as against specific types of enemies. The only traits that specifically boost Zombie Charger are:
-* [[Zombie Master]] -- Increases damage done by Zombie skills.
+===Beta===
+Skill tiers were removed shortly before the [[beta]] started in September 2011, and Zombie Charger became a level 5 skill. [[Flux]] tried it out again, and found it essentially unchanged:[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/witch-doctor-beta-skills-mega-report]
+<blockquote>''Zombie Charger is mildly useful in the beta, but only when aimed carefully and in certain situations. The skill creates a zombie that walks forward in a straight line, disintegrating into a cloud of green, poisonous smoke as it moves. The damage isn’t huge, but it can pass through multiple enemies if they’re very tightly bunched, and will deal the full damage to all of them.</blockquote>
-==[[Rune|Skill Rune]] Effects==
+The skill system was once again overhauled for the [[Beta Patch 13]] in February 2012, and Zombie Charger was classified as a Decay skill and moved to level 14, out of the reach of beta players. Despite being [[nerf]]ed in [[Beta Patch 14]], it does the same damage in [[Beta Patch 15]] as it did in Patch 13, albeit at a higher mana cost.
-Only one [[runestone]] effect is known for Zombie Charger, the instantly-legendary "Zombie Bears." It's not known which rune creates this bonus.
-The effect was created by [[Julian Love]] and revealed at Blizzcon 2010, where it became something of a running joke, and was brought up in interviews and panels with unbearable frequency. [http://interviews.slashdot.org/story/10/10/25/1711255/Julian-Love-Lead-Technical-Artist-for-Diablo-3]
+The skill was improved during the beta test; given better pathfinding so it didn't get stuck in place by hitting any tiny corner of a wall or other object.
-::'''''Slashdot:''' I was playing a Witch Doctor, and I used the spell that summons a zombie for you, and I got a rune that turned it into a swarm of bears. We got a real kick out of that.
-::'''Julian Love:''' Yeah! Zombie Bears! It’s kind of funny, that’s one of the skills that came up – the way we work is that we sit down and throw a lot of crazy ideas out, and sometimes it’s a little scary, throwing an idea that you think “I’m not sure how the group will react. This is kind of wacky.” And I remember sitting in the group and they were saying, “What are we going to do? We need something else.” And I said, “I’m not even sure why this works, but I’m just going to say it: Zombie Bears!” And everybody went, “Yes!” And that was it. Look at the way to it feels to play that skill in the game – it just sounds fun, right?
+<!--
+==Trivia==
+-->
+==Media==
-==Development==
+Zombie Charger can be seen in action on video here:
-'''Zombie Charger''' first appeared at [[BlizzCon 2009]] at Tier II in the [[Zombie Skill Tree]], but wasn't implemented yet.
+* [[Video: Blizzcon 2010 Rune Effects]]
-At [[BlizzCon 2010]], it was one of the Witch Doctor's starting skills, but was nearly useless unruned. [[Flux]] explains:[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvm-report-witch-doctor]
+* [[Video: Blizzcon 2010 Arena]]
+* [[Skill Animations Videos#Witch Doctor Video|Video: August 2011 Witch Doctor Skill Animations]] (runed for [[Zombie Bears]])
-<blockquote>''It’s hard to use, since it has so little range; it’s hardly more than melee distance, and doesn’t work at the usual range a player assumes, a few paces behind the front line where the Mongrels are tanking.  You have to learn to stand closer, almost at melee range to get any real effect from the skill. It’s not like a poison bolt, where as long as it gets to the enemy the full damage is done. The zombie doesn’t actually hit anything; it’s not a projectile. It’s just passes through them, trailing poison. So enemies it passes over and through take a lot of damage.  Enemies it just barely gets to only receive a little splash of damage that hardly registers.</blockquote>
-==Media==
 You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/ Diablo III screenshots and pictures]
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/gallery/search.php?keywords=Zombie+Charger&cat=all '''Zombie Charger''' specific gallery contents]
+<gallery>
+Image:Zombie-charger-zoom1.jpg|Zoomed-in view from the beta.
+</gallery>
 ==References==
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/full-witch-doctor-skills/ BlizzCon 2009 Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats]
-* [http://interviews.slashdot.org/story/10/10/25/1711255/Julian-Love-Lead-Technical-Artist-for-Diablo-3 Julian Love @ Blizzcon 2010 Interview] -- Slashdot 25 Oct 2010
 * [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvm-report-witch-doctor BlizzCon 2010 Witch Doctor Hands-on Report]
+* [http://interviews.slashdot.org/story/10/10/25/1711255/Julian-Love-Lead-Technical-Artist-for-Diablo-3 Julian Love @ Blizzcon 2010 Interview] — Slashdot 25th Oct 2010
+* [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/blog/comments/witch-doctor-beta-skills-mega-report Witch Doctor Beta Skills Mega-report: Part One] — IncGamers 30th Sep 2011
+* [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/ Witch Doctor Active Skills] — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+{{Skill navbox Diablo III|WD|decay}}
-{{Slave navbox Diablo III|WD}}
+[[category:Active skills]]
+[[category:Witch Doctor skills]]
+[[category:Witch Doctor active skills]]

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