- 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.
Contents
DescriptionEdit
Name | Level | Description |
---|
<skill class="WitchDoctor">Circle of Life</skill>
NotesEdit
- 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 TacticsEdit
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.
SynergiesEdit
No synergies with any active skills or other Witch Doctor passives are known.
DevelopmentEdit
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.
BetaEdit
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 VersionsEdit
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
ReferencesEdit
- HardRock's Witch Doctor Passive Skills — IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
- Witch Doctor Passive Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site
Classes of the Diablo games |
Skills - Active skills - Skill runes - Passives - Resource - Movement ability [e] Barbarian Demon Hunter Monk Necromancer Witch Doctor Wizard Followers Other Classes Fan-made |
---|
The Barbarian | Fury - Barbarian Active Skills (Archive) | Barbarian Passive Skills (Archive) [e] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Primary Might |
Secondary Tactics |
Defensive Rage |
Pound of Flesh (10) |
Superstition (30) |
(X) = the level at which the skill becomes unlocked. |
Barbarian skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Might Tactics Rage |
---|
Bash |
Cleave |
Frenzy |
[e] |
Hammer of the Ancients |
Rend |
Seismic Slam |
Whirlwind |
[e] |
Ground Stomp |
Leap |
Sprint |
Ignore Pain |
[e] |
Ancient Spear |
Revenge |
Furious Charge |
Overpower |
[e] |
Weapon Throw |
Threatening Shout |
Battle Rage |
War Cry |
[e] |
Earthquake |
Call of the Ancients |
Wrath of the Berserker |
[e] |
The Demon Hunter | Hatred/Discipline - Demon Hunter Active Skills (Archive) | Demon Hunter Passive Skills (Archive) [e] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Primary attribute:
|
Primary Hunting |
Secondary Devices |
Defensive Archery |
Tactical Advantage (10) |
Archery (30) |
(X) = the level at which the skill becomes unlocked. |
Demon Hunter skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Hunting Devices Archery |
---|
Hungering Arrow |
Entangling Shot |
Bola Shot |
Grenades |
[e] |
Impale |
Rapid Fire |
Chakram |
Elemental Arrow |
[e] |
Caltrops |
Smoke Screen |
Shadow Power |
[e] |
Vault |
Preparation |
Companion |
Marked for Death |
[e] |
Evasive Fire |
Fan of Knives |
Spike Trap |
Sentry |
[e] |
Strafe |
Multishot |
Cluster Arrow |
Rain of Vengeance |
[e] |
Monk skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Techniques Focus Mantras |
---|
Fists of Thunder |
Deadly Reach |
Crippling Wave |
Way of the Hundred Fists |
[e] |
Lashing Tail Kick |
Tempest Rush |
Wave of Light |
[e] |
Blinding Flash |
Breath of Heaven |
Serenity |
Inner Sanctuary |
[e] |
Dashing Strike |
Exploding Palm |
Sweeping Wind |
[e] |
Cyclone Strike |
Seven-Sided Strike |
Mystic Ally |
[e] |
Mantra of Evasion |
Mantra of Retribution |
Mantra of Healing |
Mantra of Conviction |
[e] |
Necromancer skill categories: Primary Secondary Corpses Blood and Bone Reanimation Curses |
---|
Witch Doctor skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Terror Decay Voodoo |
---|
Poison Dart - Rune effects |
Corpse Spiders |
Plague of Toads |
Firebomb |
[e] |
Grasp of the Dead |
Firebats |
Haunt |
Locust Swarm |
[e] |
Summon Zombie Dogs |
Horrify |
Spirit Walk |
Hex |
[e] |
Soul Harvest |
Sacrifice |
Mass Confusion |
[e] |
Zombie Charger |
Spirit Barrage |
Acid Cloud |
Wall of Zombies |
[e] |
Gargantuan |
Big Bad Voodoo |
Fetish Army |
[e] |
The Wizard | Arcane Power - Wizard Active Skills (Archive) | Wizard Passive Skills (Archive) [e] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Primary attribute:
|
Primary Force |
Secondary Conjuration |
Defensive Mastery |
Blur (10) |
Conflagration (34) |
(X) = the level at which the skill becomes unlocked. |
Wizard skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Force Conjuration Mastery |
---|
Magic Missile |
Shock Pulse |
Spectral Blade |
Electrocute |
[e] |
Ray of Frost |
Arcane Orb |
Arcane Torrent |
Disintegrate |
[e] |
Frost Nova |
Diamond Skin |
Slow Time |
Teleport |
[e] |
Wave of Force |
Energy Twister |
Hydra |
Meteor |
Blizzard |
[e] |
Ice Armor |
Storm Armor |
Magic Weapon |
Familiar |
Energy Armor |
[e] |
Explosive Blast |
Mirror Image |
Archon |
[e] |
Followers | Kormac the Templar | Lyndon the Scoundrel | Eirena the Enchantress [e] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Level 10: |
Level 5: Level 10: |
Level 15: |
Level 15: Level 20: |
Level 25: Level 30: |
Diablo III Other Classes | Diablo II Classes | Diablo I Classes [e] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Archetypes: |
Archetype sub-types: |
Other classes: |
Diablo II: |
Fan-made Classes | Fan-made Skills [e] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
• Alchemist |
• Flagellant |
• Ranger |
Dragon Warrior Skills |
Aurian Mage Skill | |
|