Difference between revisions of "Spirit Skill Tree"

Revision as of 22:11, 2 April 2009

The Witch Doctor has three skill trees, with a variety of active and passive skills in each. Only 11 WD skills were revealed at Blizzcon, (more than 55 each were shown for the Wizard and Barbarian) so our knowledge of this character's abilities is much less extensive. Furthermore, all 11 skills were active skills, so we know nothing of the WD's passives and masteries.

The Witch Doctor's tree skill trees are:

Diablo III Skill Trees

Template:Class navboxUnlike the skill trees in Diablo II, the trees in Diablo III are not focused on just one aspect of a character. All known D3 skill trees have a wide variety of skills, with more passive than active, and all allow for a variety of play styles.

All active skills in the BlizzCon build were capped at 1 skill point (or rank, as skill levels are called in D3), while most passives went up to 15 points. This will not be the case in the final game; active skills will allow more than 1 point, and passives may have different maximum ranks, to allow better game balancing. Know that skills will be modified, that some will be removed, that others will be added, and that the numbers are almost certain to change.

Spirit Skill Tree

Skull of Flame

This skill (formerly known as Firebomb) allows the Witch Doctor to lob a sort of fire grenade projectile, like a molotov cocktail, to any spot on the screen. The burning skull tumbles end over end in mid-air, and explodes with a burst of flame when it lands, dealing fire damage to anything in the immediate vicinity. It also sets targets aflame, and they take continued damage from the fire for several seconds. There are fires left burning on the ground after a firebomb detonates, but these do not seem to deal damage to, or set fire to, targets that walk through them.

During BlizzCon 2008's Diablo 3 Class Design Panel where shown some ways to improve firebomb through the use of skill runes.

A Hydra Rune (named multi-strike before) causes the flaming skull to bounce on the ground like a rock on a pond, bounding and creating multiple explosions as it skips.
A Force Rune (named power before) boosts the damage, and creates a firewall-like effect where patches of flame are left on the ground, scorching all monsters in the vicinity.

Like several other Witch Doctor spells, the flames from this one will spread to the Mongrels, adding fire damage to their attacks.

Sequence of Witch Doctor casting Skull of Flame.

During the Denizens of Diablo panel at the 2008 WWI event, the D3 team spoke at length about the development of the Firebomb skill and how it's one of the skills that best describes what makes the Witch Doctor tick. A partial quote:

Originally it was a sort of fireball spell; when cast it traveled in a direct line from the WD to the target and would hit anything in the path. It exploded nicely. Explosions are cool. Everyone likes them.

Problem was, not really problem, but we've all seen that kind of Fireball spell before. The artists came back said we didn't imagine him that way. We saw Firebomb as more of a physical magic. Like concocting some alchemical recipe in a skull and hurling that, and it explodes.

Once it was a physical projectile designers liked that. It became a physical thing to throw, could go over walls. Become different tactics and use. Great example of how art and design can work together to iterate to make cool skill.

Mass Confusion

This curse-like mind control attack summons a blue spirit wherever the WD targets it. The spirit confuses some of the monsters in range, causing an aqua colored orb to appear over their heads. Confused monsters seem to lose their AI, and they mill around more than usual. They may also attack, or be attacked by, other monsters. They are not the WD's minions though, and are not under his control, so he can kill confused monsters just like any other monster.

Soul Harvest

[[Image:Wd-soul-harvest3.jpg|thumb]Soul Harvest]

This skill creates a nova-like ring of blue smoke around the Witch Doctor. All targets within the ring are damaged, and if the damage is enough to kill them, their souls (white/blue ghosts) swirl into the air, then down into the witch doctor, where they add to his or her mana. The radius of the skill is not very large, so monsters need to be nearly in melee range to be affected.

This is a useful tool to finish off multiple weak enemies, and to replenish the Witch Doctor's mana in the process. It's not a very cost-effective spell to use as a regular attack, since the damage isn't very high, and the WD has other skills that can hit multiple enemies at once for more damage, and at a lower mana cost.

Firebats

This inferno-like spell shoots forth a spray of flaming bats that scorch any monsters in range. The spell keeps firing for as long as the mouse button is depressed, and it can be aimed in any direction by moving the mouse. The screenshot here shows the range; it goes that far, and no further. Click to see the full screenshot.

The bat animation is very nice, with a sort of swirling tornado of them appearing above the Witch Doctor, then funneling down and out into combat. The bats are not on fire overhead, and are only ignited as they pass the WD's hands and strike the monsters. The WD in the image to the right has just released the mouse button, since the bats are still flying out and burning, but there aren't any visible flying down from overhead. There's a nice sound effect with this one as well, as the bats screech and chitter, with a burning, crackling sound over the top of their cries.

If you like bats, don't think of them as being incinerated in agony; think of them as eager volunteers to help the Witch Doctor rid Sanctuary of evil.

Projected Passive Skills

No passive skills have yet been revealed in this skill tree, but by comparing these skills to the known trees and skills for the Wizard and Barbarian, some educated guesses can be made.

Likely passives will provide boosts to fire damage, boosts to the duration or intensity of the mind control skill(s), and/or a boost to the % of life/mana returned from Soul Harvest. Others will increase skills yet to be revealed in this tree.

@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 ===Soul Harvest===
-[[Image:Icon-soul-harvest.jpg|left]][[Image:Wd-soul-harvest3.jpg|thumb]]
+[[Image:Icon-soul-harvest.jpg|left]][[Image:Wd-soul-harvest3.jpg|thumb]Soul Harvest]
 This skill creates a nova-like ring of blue smoke around the Witch Doctor. All targets within the ring are damaged, and if the damage is enough to kill them, their souls (white/blue ghosts) swirl into the air, then down into the witch doctor, where they add to his or her mana. The radius of the skill is not very large, so monsters need to be nearly in melee range to be affected.