Haunt

Haunt is a Witch Doctor skill unlocked at level 3. Using it the WD fires a ghost at an enemy, dealing arcane damage over time. If the target dies the Haunt will jump to another nearby enemy.

Background

Diablo III Active Skill [e]
Haunt
Used by:	Witch Doctor
Enabled at:	Clvl 3
Skill Description
Haunt an enemy with a spirit dealing X arcane damage over X seconds. If the target dies, the spirit will automatically haunt another nearby target.
Type:	Damage/DoT
Resource Use:	Costs Mana
Skill Rune Effects
Alabaster rune:	Unknown
Crimson rune:	Unknown
Golden rune:	Unknown
Indigo rune:	Unknown
Obsidian rune:	Unknown

The Witch Doctor calls forth a malevolent spirit that deals damage to anything it possesses.

Skill Design

This skill seems a pretty standard DoT spell, albeit being weak and working somewhat like a summon spell. However, if combined with other DoT effects, can cause the enemy to die rather quickly, as compared to casting Skull of Flame constantly to take out an enemy. It seems to last for quite a while when it finds an enemy, and multiplication should not be underestimated. Also, this skill doesn't seem to work like other summoning spells, as the spirit will vanish if no enemy is found.

A fan complained about the look of this skill, based on hardly being able to see it in a gameplay movie, and got a reply, in which Bashiok quoted one of the skill designers, Julian Love, in September 2010:[1]

Bashiok: Re: haunt, Julian wanted to pass along that the effect seen for the skill was “the most ridiculously temporary graphic ever.” It was never really intended to be shown in the state it was, so it’s all a bit embarrassing. But never fear as the skill itself is seeing an overhaul (technically and visually) to better deliver the concept of being haunted.

@Diablo: New witch doctor Haunt effect is looking… hauntier.—Diablo

Despite this commentary, we've still never had a good look at the skill. If anyone saw or used it at Blizzcon 2010, where it was available in the First Tier, they didn't make any public comment on the graphics.

Skill Rank Table

• Rank 1: A Spirit invades enemy's bodies dealing 1.0 damage per second, lasting up to 6 seconds. Cost: 12 mana.
• Rank 2: A Spirit invades enemy's bodies dealing 1.5 damage per second, lasting up to 7 seconds. Cost: 12 mana. (A)
• Rank 3: A Spirit invades enemy's bodies dealing 2.0 damage per second, lasting up to 8 seconds. Cost: 12 mana. (A)
• Rank 4: A Spirit invades enemy's bodies dealing 2.5 damage per second, lasting up to 9 seconds. Cost: 12 mana. (A)
• Rank 5: A Spirit invades enemy's bodies dealing 3.0 damage per second, lasting up to 10 seconds. Cost: 12 mana. (A)

(A) = Assumed

Synergies

• No synergies with any of the passive skills are yet known.

Skill Rune Effects

• No rune effects for Haunt are known.

Development

Haunt was first seen at BlizzCon 2009, where it was a Tier I skill in the Spirit Skill Tree. Flux was able to try it in the gameplay demo, but didn't find it very useful:[2]

Honestly, this skill was worthless in the Blizzcon build. Other attack skills did far more damage, far more quickly, and for less mana. This skill is it’s apparently meant to be used primarily to stop monster regeneration, and it will probably work against monsters that have immunities to fire or poison, the Witch Doctor’s main attack types. But it’s very odd that it’s placed in the first Tier, since it seems more like a support/specialty skill to use in the late game.

By 2010, it had been moved to Tier 2, but no known BlizzCon 2010 reports mention using it. Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, and Haunt became a level 3 skill.

Media

Haunt can be seen in action on video here:

• No videos yet.

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

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Haunt specific gallery contents

References

• BlizzCon 2009 Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats
• Haunt Grows Ghostlier -- Incgamers 4th Sep 2010
• JudgeHype.com July 2011 Press Event Coverage - The Barbarian (Translated by Zediono)