Zombie Bears is a rune effect in Zombie Charger, a Physical Realm Witch Doctor skill.
This rune effect summons a pack of zombie bears that charge forward for a short distance, stampeding over and through any enemies and dealing 235% poison damage to anything in the area. This is one of the Witch Doctor's more damaging attacks, and though it is short range, it hits across a quite wide space.
Contents
Skill Rune EffectsEdit
Refer to the Zombie Charger rune effects article for a thorough description of all five rune effects in this skill, including screenshots, videos, and strategy tips.
| Name | Level | Description |
|---|
<skill subcat="Physical realm spell" class="WitchDoctor">Zombie Charger</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Zombie Bears">Zombie Charger</skill>
BackgroundEdit
The bear effect was created by Julian Love and revealed at Blizzcon 2010, where it became something of a meme or running joke, where the Diablo III devs referred to it in interviews and panels with unbearable frequency. [1]
Slashdot: I was playing a Witch Doctor, and I used the spell that summons a zombie for you, and I got a rune that turned it into a swarm of bears. We got a real kick out of that.
Julian Love: Yeah! Zombie Bears! It’s kind of funny, that’s one of the skills that came up – the way we work is that we sit down and throw a lot of crazy ideas out, and sometimes it’s a little scary, throwing an idea that you think “I’m not sure how the group will react. This is kind of wacky.” And I remember sitting in the group and they were saying, “What are we going to do? We need something else.” And I said, “I’m not even sure why this works, but I’m just going to say it: Zombie Bears!” And everybody went, “Yes!” And that was it. Look at the way to it feels to play that skill in the game – it just sounds fun, right?
MediaEdit
Two screenshots of the zombie bears. It's hard to get a good shot of them as they move quickly and have a skinless, bloody mess of an exterior. The bear-ness of them is much more visible in a video than a still image.
Bears in Whimsyshire.
Bears in Whimsyshire.
Bears at work against Cydaea in Hell in this short video.
DevelopmentEdit
Prior to the skill revision in February 2012, this rune effect was enabled by the Crimson Rune, granting the following effect with a level 7 runestone:
 |
Zombie Bears |
[e] Summons a stampede of three Zombie Bears, each dealing 112% weapon damage to enemies in the area. |
| 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 |
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| The Barbarian | Fury - Barbarian Active Skills (Archive) | Barbarian Passive Skills (Archive) [e] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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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 |
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Bash |
Cleave |
Frenzy |
[e] |
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Hammer of the Ancients |
Rend |
Seismic Slam |
Whirlwind |
[e] |
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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] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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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 |
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Hungering Arrow |
Entangling Shot |
Bola Shot |
Grenades |
[e] |
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Impale |
Rapid Fire |
Chakram |
Elemental Arrow |
[e] |
|
Caltrops |
Smoke Screen |
Shadow Power |
[e] |
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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] |
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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 |
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| Witch Doctor skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Terror Decay Voodoo |
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|
Poison Dart - Rune effects |
Corpse Spiders |
Plague of Toads |
Firebomb |
[e] |
|
Grasp of the Dead |
Firebats |
Haunt |
Locust Swarm |
[e] |
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Summon Zombie Dogs |
Horrify |
Spirit Walk |
Hex |
[e] |
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Soul Harvest |
Sacrifice |
Mass Confusion |
[e] |
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Zombie Charger |
Spirit Barrage |
Acid Cloud |
Wall of Zombies |
[e] |
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Gargantuan |
Big Bad Voodoo |
Fetish Army |
[e] |
| The Wizard | Arcane Power - Wizard Active Skills (Archive) | Wizard Passive Skills (Archive) [e] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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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 |
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Magic Missile |
Shock Pulse |
Spectral Blade |
Electrocute |
[e] |
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Ray of Frost |
Arcane Orb |
Arcane Torrent |
Disintegrate |
[e] |
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Frost Nova |
Diamond Skin |
Slow Time |
Teleport |
[e] |
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Wave of Force |
Energy Twister |
Hydra |
Meteor |
Blizzard |
[e] |
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Ice Armor |
Storm Armor |
Magic Weapon |
Familiar |
Energy Armor |
[e] |
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Explosive Blast |
Mirror Image |
Archon |
[e] |
| Followers | Kormac the Templar | Lyndon the Scoundrel | Eirena the Enchantress [e] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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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] | ||||
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Archetypes: |
Archetype sub-types: |
Other classes: |
Diablo II: |
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| Fan-made Classes | Fan-made Skills [e] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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• Alchemist |
• Flagellant |
• Ranger |
Dragon Warrior Skills |
Aurian Mage Skill | |
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