Firebats

Firebats is a Tier IV skill of the Witch Doctor. It casts forth a spray of flaming bats, which deal substantial fire damage to enemies in the vicinity.

Contents

Background

Diablo III Skill [e]
Firebats Active, 5 ranks
Used by:	Witch Doctor
Skill Description:
A swarm of fiery bats burn enemies in front of you for X fire damage per second.
Skill Details:
Type:	Direct Damage
Quantity:	Duration
Effect:	Cone
School:	Fire
Mana cost:	120 mana/sec
Cast time:	Unknown
Duration:	None
Cooldown:	Unknown
Synergies:	Unknown
Requires:	N/A
Prereq of:	N/A

The Witch Doctor spews fire from his mouth whilst bats fly into the flame, sending forth flaming bats to attack enemies in front of the Doctor.

Skill Design

This skill is a sort of Inferno, dealing fire damage to anything in front of the Witch Doctor for as long as he keeps casting the spell. It takes a moment to start producing damage, and requires the Witch Doctor to remain stationary while he casts it.

There is a steady mana drain while the spell is in use.

Skill Rank Table

(A) = Assumed

• Rank: 1/5
  • A swarm of fiery bats burn enemies in front of you for 10 fire damage per second.
  • Mana Cost: 120 mana
• Rank: 2/5
  • A swarm of fiery bats burn enemies in front of you for 20 fire damage per second. (A)
  • Mana Cost: 120 mana
• Rank: 3/5
  • A swarm of fiery bats burn enemies in front of you for 30 fire damage per second. (A)
  • Mana Cost: 120 mana
• Rank: 4/5
  • A swarm of fiery bats burn enemies in front of you for 40 fire damage per second. (A)
  • Mana Cost: 120 mana
• Rank: 5/5
  • A swarm of fiery bats burn enemies in front of you for 50 fire damage per second. (A)
  • Mana Cost: 120 mana

Synergies

Firebats swarm a Cultist.

No other skills directly boost or synergize with Firebats.

The Witch Doctor traits may provide some direct boosts, though. Only one is known thus far:

• Plagued -- This Clv 43 trait increases the damage done by "Animal and Plague skills."

Runestone Effects

The specific runes that grant the bonuses are not yet known, but some of their bonus properties have been observed.

• One rune boosts the range and damage of the Firebats.
• One rune turns Firebats into a sort of defensive field, with the bats constantly swarming around the Witch Doctor and only extending out to damage enemies when they move into melee range.

Development

Firebats was first seen in the WWI 2008 build. It was originally located in the Spirit Skill Tree, then moved to the Voodoo Skill Tree. Skill trees were removed before Blizcon 2010.

The skill's damage and range was lowered with the introduction of Runestones; unmodified Firebats were much less effective in the 2010 Blizzcon build than they had been back in 2008.

Media

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

• Diablo 3 screenshots and pictures
• Firebats-specific gallery contents

• 

  Firebats on an Unburied.

• 

  Firebats swarm a Cultist.

References

• Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats