Plague of Toads. Full shot here.
Plague of Toads is a Witch Doctor skill from the Plague Skill Tree. It's an active attack skill somewhat akin to a slower, shorter-range Charged Bolt.
Contents
Spell Function
When cast, the Witch Doctor tosses out several (3 to start, more with more skill points or rune benefits) toads that hop forward, spreading out slightly as they homed in on any target in range. Their homing wasn't very good; they never changed direction or made a sharp turn, but if a target was roughly in front of the Witch Doctor, at least two of the toads were sure to leap into it.
When the toads found a target the burst like water balloons. They burst even if they didn't find a target, after covering about half of the screen. When they died, they exploded in splats of green acid which dealt poison damage to the enemy. Toads also left behind puddles of acid on the ground, which damaged monsters that stepped in them.
Play Report
Flux described using this skill at Blizzcon 2008.[1]
- Plague of Toads were great fun to use too, though less damaging than Firebats. At level 1 (the only level possible for active spells in the Blizzcon demo) the WD tossed out three toads, which then hopped forward like scaly, slimy, living Charged Bolts. They weren’t entirely mindless—they homed in on enemies, and exploded with a splat of green acid (poison) when they hit a target. If there was no target in range, the toads would hop 3 or 4 times, covering maybe half the visible screen, before bursting in air. They left behind splats of acid on the ground that would damage enemies who stood in it. The toads shared their poison to Mongrels, just like the various fire spells and Locust Swarm.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites to this skill.
Spell Base Effects/Costs
The costs and effects of this spell are currently unknown
Synergies
No skills are known to modify this spell via synergies.
Skill Rune Effects
The Rune effects for this skill are not known at this time.
Other Notes, and Speculation
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.
Like all of the spells in Diablo III, this one has a great sound effect, with the toads making their "ribbit" noises and wet slapping sounds as they hop forward. The animation is excellent as well. The toads really look like they have weight and mass as they gather themselves to leap, and land with a little thud after each spring.
It's not known what skill runes will do to this skill, but a multi-strike rune seems a good bet to increase the number of amphibious attackers.