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[[File:IconFirebats.png|left]]
[[File:wd-firebats1.jpg|thumb|350px|Bats on fire.]]'''Firebats''' is a Physical Realm Secondary [[Witch Doctor skill]] unlocked at [[clvl|level]] 95. It casts forth a spray of flaming bats, which deal substantial fire damage to enemies in the vicinity.
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==Background==
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.
==Skillrune Skill Rune Effects==The following is a very quick listsummary. See the [[Firebats rune effects]] page for a more thorough summary description of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.
<skill class="WitchDoctor">Firebats</skill>
==Synergies==
The following [[File:Firebats3.jpg|thumb|350px|Firebats swarm a [[Cultist]].Witch Doctor passives]]provide a benefit to Firebats:{{Passive skills header}}* No [[synergies]] with any of {{Witch Doctor Passive Pierce the [[passive skill]]s are yet known.Veil}}{{Witch Doctor Passive Fetish Sycophants}}
==Development==
[[File:Firebats3.jpg|thumb|350px|Firebats swarm a [[Cultist]].]]
'''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]], before skill trees were removed entirely.
<blockquote>''The other interesting thing about this skill was the firing mechanism. You couldn’t click it. If you did nothing would happen. Literally; sometimes one bat would squeak out, but usually not even that. The spell dealt very good DoT, but you had to hold down the mouse button to let the bats flow forth. It took a second or two for the full flow to get going, and once it did the damage was great, but you had to commit to using it.</blockquote>
===Beta===Skill tiers were removed for shortly before the [[July 2011 Press Eventbeta]]started in September 2011, and Firebats became a level 9 skill.[[Flux]] used it in the beta, and found it much improved:[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/witch-doctor-beta-skills-mega-report-part-two]
<blockquote>''In the beta, the base version of Firebats is much better than it was, it starts working more quickly (previously you had to hold down the mouse button for maybe half a second before the bats really started to flow properly), and there’s no longer any rune that simply increases the range and damage of the bats. <br><br>
''There doesn’t seem to be any sweet spot; full damage is dealt to enemies anywhere in the range of the bats, and I mean anywhere; enemies in front do not soak up all the bats and save the back row from getting hit. Every monster in range gets the full damage. The only limitation on this skill is the fairly heavy mana drain. It’s the only Witch Doctor skill in the beta that can drain your mana in normal use, though you need a huge pack or the Skeleton King to fire long enough to run dry.</blockquote>
The skill system was once again overhauled for the [[Beta Patch 13]] in February 2012, and Firebats was classified as a Secondary skill and moved to level 12. For [[Beta Patch 15]], it was dropped to level 5, and was [[buff]]ed but had its mana cost greatly increased.
===Previous Versions===
See the [[Witch Doctor skill archive]] for more details on previous versions of Firebats and other Witch Doctor skills.
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==References==
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/full-witch-doctor-skills/ BlizzCon 2009 Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats]
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvm-report-witch-doctor BlizzCon 2010 Witch Doctor Hands-on Report]
* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7960229#post7960229 Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report] -- — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/character-previews-from-jay-wilson Character Previews From Jay Wilson] — IncGamers 9th Aug 2011* [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/witch-doctor-beta- skills-mega-report-part-two Witch Doctor Beta Skills Mega-report: Part Two] — IncGamers 9th Aug 1st Oct 2011* [http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/active/ Witch Doctor Active Skills] -- — Blizzard's Official Diablo III 13th Sep 2011Site