Zombie Charger

Zombie Charger is a Physical Realm Witch Doctor skill unlocked at level 5. It summons a zombie that charges forward, disintegrating rapidly into a poison cloud; it deals considerable poison damage, but the range is quite short.

Background

Zombies charge in a zoomed in Beta view.

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.

Rune Effects

The following is a very quick list. See the Zombie Charger 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.

Icon	Skill	Description

Zombie Charger Physical Realm (Level 5)

[e] Cost: 229 Mana Call forth a reckless, suicidal zombie that deals 150% weapon damage as Poison to all enemies in its way.

Explosive Beast

[e] Summon an explosive zombie dog that deals 262% weapon damage as Fire to all enemies within 9 yards.

Zombie Bears

[e] Summons a stampede of three Zombie Bears, each dealing 112% weapon damage to enemies in the area.

Undeath

[e] If the charger kills a target, at the end of its path it will reappear as a new charger that deals 105% weapon damage as Poison. This effect can repeat up to 8 times.

Wave of Zombies

[e] Summon 8 zombie chargers that deal 165% weapon damage each.

Leperous Zombie

[e] The charger leaves behind a poisonous cloud that deals 135% weapon damage per second as Poison to enemies caught in it.

Note: Information is based on a level 60 character and rank 7 runestones.

Skill Design

Zombie Charger in action

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

Synergies

• No synergies with any of the passive skills are yet known.

Development

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.

Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, and Zombie Charger became a level 5 skill.

Media

Zombie Charger can be seen in action on video here:

• Video: Blizzcon 2010 Rune Effects
• Video: Blizzcon 2010 Arena
• Video: August 2011 Witch Doctor Skill Animations (runed for Zombie Bears)

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

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Zombie Charger specific gallery contents

References

• BlizzCon 2009 Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats
• Julian Love @ Blizzcon 2010 Interview -- Slashdot 25 Oct 2010
• BlizzCon 2010 Witch Doctor Hands-on Report
• Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report -- IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
• Witch Doctor Active Skills -- Diablo III 13th Sep 2011

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