Locust Swarm

Locust Swarm is a Tier 4 Witch Doctor skill.

The Witch Doctor sends forth a torrent of locusts which swarm over and devour anything they meet. The Locusts can chain from target to target, potentially consuming or damaging numerous targets in close proximity.

Background

Diablo III Skill [e]

Locust Swarm Active, 5 ranks
Used by:	Witch Doctor
Skill Description:
A plague of locusts assault enemies dealing X damage per second over X seconds. The locusts will jump to additional nearby targets.
Skill Details:
Type:	DoT
Quantity:	Enemies
Effect:	All Enemies
School:	Magical
Mana cost:	Unknown
Cast time:	Unknown
Duration:	None
Cooldown:	Unknown
Synergies:	Unknown
Requires:	N/A
Prereq of:	N/A

The Witch Doctor sends a locust swarm to literally devour the flesh of his enemies.

Skill Design

A really nice skill against packs of monsters, working like a disease that affects one monster and then the rest of the group. It can spread quite fast, so casting this spell just once is enough, and by the time it is done, you would have used a few other skills. Enemies who are killed by Locust Swarm leave behind a skeleton, a most pleasant visual effect.

Skill Rank Table

The stats as of Blizzcon 2009. Expect changes in the final game.

Rank: 1/5
- Assault nearby foes with a plague of locusts that deals 4.0 damage per second over 2.0 seconds.
- Mana Cost: 15 mana
Rank: 2/5
- Assault nearby foes with a plague of locusts that deals 4.5 damage per second over 2.5 seconds. (A)
- Mana Cost: 15 mana
Rank: 3/5
- Assault nearby foes with a plague of locusts that deals 5.0 damage per second over 3.0 seconds. (A)
- Mana Cost: 15 mana
Rank: 4/5
- Assault nearby foes with a plague of locusts that deals 5.5 damage per second over 3.5 seconds. (A)
- Mana Cost: 15 mana
Rank: 5/5
- Assault nearby foes with a plague of locusts that deals 6.0 damage per second over 4.0 seconds. (A)
- Mana Cost: 15 mana

(legend (A) = Assumed)

ACHOOO! uh, i don't feel so good.

Synergies

While various Witch Doctor traits boost the overall performance of his skills, there are no particular traits that pertain to Locust Swarm.

Runestone Effects

A couple of runestone effects are known, though it's not clear which runes provide them.

Rank 2 Mana Regeneration Rune
- Description: Your Locust Swarm regenerates 50% of the damage it deals as mana to you
- Effect: Turns the swarm blue and channels a tremendous amount of mana back to the Witch Doctor.

Rank 2 Multi-target Rune
- Description: Locust Swarm now jumps to two targets upon creature death.
- Effect: Splits the swarm, sending two out to enemies after each death. With high level Locust Swarm damage this could essentially clear an entire screen of monsters with a single cast.

Development

Locust Swarm was seen in every Diablo 3 game demo to date, and was moved and iterated, judging from the latest demo. The old Locust Swarm was in the Plague Skill Tree (which itself, was renamed to Zombie Skill Tree), and now doesn't affect Zombie Dogs in any way.

Media

You can find pictures in the Diablo 3 screenshot and picture gallery:

References

Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats