Difference between revisions of "Circle of Life"

Latest revision as of 20:20, 24 May 2012

Were you looking for the Monk skill Breath of Heaven rune effect Circle of Life?

Circle of Life is a Witch Doctor passive skill unlocked at Level 10. It grants a chance that a zombie dog will emerge from the corpse of enemies that die near the Witch Doctor. The range varies; it is 12 yards at base, but is increased by equipment that adds to the Witch Doctor's gold pick up range. As the Witch Doctor does the majority of his killing at well out of melee range, adding to the radius in this way is very useful.

The Monk skill rune effect Circle of Protection formerly shared this skill's name.

Description[edit | edit source]

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="WitchDoctor">Circle of Life</skill>

Notes[edit | edit source]

The maximum number of dogs the Witch Doctor can have at one time is three (or 4 if he has Zombie Handler enabled).
If the Witch Doctor has a runed version of Summon Zombie Dog enabled, the dogs summoned by Circle of Life will match the rune type. Otherwise, Circle of Life summons the basic zombie dog.

Skill Tactics[edit | edit source]

This is one of the more powerful passive skills, as it can largely replace the need for the Summon Zombie Dog skill, effective giving the Witch Doctor another active skill in the bargain. There are some difficulties to consider, though.

The 5% chance to summon a new dog is tiny, especially given the very small radius of effect. The Witch Doctor has to be practically in melee range of his kills, which is dangerous for a low hit point mage-style character. Using equipment to add to your gold pickup radius, thus increasing the radius of this ability, is very helpful.
- On the other hand, that close range issue only lasts until the desired number of Mongrels have been summoned. Once there are two or three dogs for protection, the Witch Doctor can back up to his usual spell casting range.

This skill generally does not create new dogs quickly enough to work well with Sacrifice. A WD who wishes to blow up his Mongrels regularly will probably want the ability to resummon them directly.
- On the other hand, this skill can cause new dogs to be summoned even during the lengthy cooldown (60s) of Summon Zombie Dog.

Synergies[edit | edit source]

No synergies with any active skills or other Witch Doctor passives are known.

Development[edit | edit source]

Passive skills have had a long and storied history. When Diablo III debuted at the WWI 2008, skill trees included passive skills, much like in Diablo II. In 2010, it was announced that passive skills had been renamed traits and separated out from active skills. At the July 2011 Press Event, Blizzard announced that passive skills were once again in the game, replacing the traits system.

Beta[edit | edit source]

Circle of Life was not seen until it showed up in the Diablo III beta as a level 10 passive. Circle of Life was redesigned with a completely new effect later in the beta, and was also moved to level 12. When passives were reorganized for Beta Patch 14, Circle of Life was moved to level 13, and then dropped back to level 10 for Beta Patch 15.

It seems likely this skill was changed in order to vary the Witch Doctor's play style a bit. Much like the changes to Soul Harvest, both those skills grant powerful bonuses, but only if there are enemies very near the Witch Doctor. This encourages the WD to move closer to enemies and out of his usual longer, spell-casting range.

Previous Versions[edit | edit source]

Circle of Life's original function:

Effect: Gain 10% of your maximum Mana whenever you are healed by a health globe.
Lore: "Life is nothing more than flesh and blood to you. How empty your world must be!" - Seera the Weaver

References[edit | edit source]

HardRock's Witch Doctor Passive Skills — IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
Witch Doctor Passive 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: @@
-[[File:IconCircleofLife.png|left]]
+::''Were you looking for the Monk skill [[Breath of Heaven]] rune effect [[Circle of Life (rune effect)|Circle of Life]]?''
-'''Circle of Life''' is a [[Witch Doctor passive]] skill unlocked at [[clvl|Level]] 10. It grants a chance that a [[zombie dog]] will emerge from the corpse of enemies that die near the Witch Doctor. The range varies; it is 10 [[yards]] at base, but is increased by equipment that adds to the Witch Doctor's gold pick up range.  As the Witch Doctor does the majority of his killing at well out of melee range, adding to the radius in this way is very useful.
-No more dogs will appear above the three allowed (or 4 if [[Zombie Handler]] is enabled).
-The Mongrels are the basic type if Summon Zombie Dog + one of the rune effects is not enabled.
+[[File:IconCircleofLife.png|left]]
+'''Circle of Life''' is a [[Witch Doctor passive]] skill unlocked at [[clvl|Level]] 10. It grants a chance that a [[zombie dog]] will emerge from the corpse of enemies that die near the Witch Doctor. The range varies; it is 12 [[yards]] at base, but is increased by equipment that adds to the Witch Doctor's gold pick up range.  As the Witch Doctor does the majority of his killing at well out of melee range, adding to the radius in this way is very useful.
+* The Monk skill rune effect [[Circle of Protection]] formerly shared this skill's name.
-<br><br><br>__TOC__
+<br><br>__TOC__
 <!--
 ==Background==
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 -->
 ==Description==
-{{Passive skills header}}
+{{skill description header}}
-{{Witch Doctor Passive Circle of Life}}
+<skill class="WitchDoctor">Circle of Life</skill>
-{{c_slate|''"The heads hanging in the village had their eyes sewn shut with thick thread. Whatever wicked magic held the frightful hound-beasts together was considerably stronger."'' — Abner Lockridge}}
+{{c_slate|''<skill flavor="yes" class="WitchDoctor">Circle of Life</skill>''}}
+===Notes===
+* The maximum number of dogs the Witch Doctor can have at one time is three (or 4 if he has [[Zombie Handler]] enabled).
+* If the Witch Doctor has a runed version of [[Summon Zombie Dog]] enabled, the dogs summoned by Circle of Life will match the rune type. Otherwise, Circle of Life summons the basic zombie dog.
+==Skill Tactics==
 This is one of the more powerful passive skills, as it can largely replace the need for the Summon Zombie Dog skill, effective giving the Witch Doctor another active skill in the bargain. There are some difficulties to consider, though.
 * The 5% chance to summon a new dog is tiny, especially given the very small radius of effect. The Witch Doctor has to be practically in melee range of his kills, which is dangerous for a low hit point mage-style character. Using equipment to add to your gold pickup radius, thus increasing the radius of this ability, is very helpful.
 ** On the other hand, that close range issue only lasts until the desired number of Mongrels have been summoned. Once there are two or three dogs for protection, the Witch Doctor can back up to his usual spell casting range.
 * This skill generally does not create new dogs quickly enough to work well with [[Sacrifice]]. A WD who wishes to blow up his Mongrels regularly will probably want the ability to resummon them directly.
 ** On the other hand, this skill can cause new dogs to be summoned even during the lengthy cooldown (60s) of Summon Zombie Dog.
@@ Line 40: / Line 45: @@
 ==Development==
 {{Passive history notes}}
 ===Beta===
-Circle of Life was not seen until it showed up in the Diablo III [[beta]] as a level 10 passive. Circle of Life was redesigned with a completely new effect later in the [[beta]], and was also moved to level 12. When passives were reorganized for [[Beta Patch 14]], Circle of Life was moved to level 13.
+Circle of Life was not seen until it showed up in the Diablo III [[beta]] as a level 10 passive. Circle of Life was redesigned with a completely new effect later in the [[beta]], and was also moved to level 12. When passives were reorganized for [[Beta Patch 14]], Circle of Life was moved to level 13, and then dropped back to level 10 for [[Beta Patch 15]].
+It seems likely this skill was changed in order to vary the Witch Doctor's play style a bit. Much like the changes to [[Soul Harvest]], both those skills grant powerful bonuses, but only if there are enemies very near the Witch Doctor. This encourages the WD to move closer to enemies and out of his usual longer, spell-casting range.
 ===Previous Versions===
@@ Line 50: / Line 58: @@
 ==References==
-* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8009167#post8009167 HardRock's Witch Doctor Passive Skills] -- IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
+* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8009167#post8009167 HardRock's Witch Doctor Passive Skills] — IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
-* [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/passive/ Witch Doctor Passive Skills] -- Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site
+* [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/passive/ Witch Doctor Passive Skills] — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site
 {{Skill navbox Diablo III|WD}}
+[[category:Passive skills]]
+[[category:Witch Doctor skills]]
 [[category:Witch Doctor passives]]
-[[category:passive skills]]

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