Witch Doctor skills

The Witch Doctor Skill Tree as seen in Blizzcon 2009. Skill are no longer presented in this fashion. Image by Muldric.

This page lists the Witch Doctor skills, with information that was current as of August 2011. This page is a quick listing; follow the links to the individual skill pages for full discussion of every skill, including first hand reports, Blue quotes, runestone information, and numerous screenshots and other images.

All character skills have undergone considerable changes during development, with the biggest change coming before Blizzcon 2010, when skill trees and passive skills were removed from the skill listing and Traits were introduced. See the Witch Doctor skill archive for information about skill changes over time.

Useful skill links:

• Skills - General skill design and mechanics.
  • Active skills - Skills where effects are activated by the player.
  • Passive skills - Skills where effects are activated automatically, by the computer or by special events.
  • Signature skills - Skills that define characters.
• Mana -- The Witch Doctor's energy resource.
• Runestones - Their huge impact on changing skills can not be over-emphasized.
• Witch Doctor skill archive - Removed Witch Doctor skills.
• Witch Doctor traits -- Passive skills in Diablo III were called traits for a while before reverting back.

Active Skills

Click to the individual skill pages for more details about these skills including numbers, screenshots, runestone information, blue quotes, and much more.

Poison Dart

Poison Dart is a Physical Realm skill unlocked at Level 1.
The Witch Doctor uses a blowpipe to fire a poison dart. A fairly slow attack that's hugely improved by runestones.

Description: Fires a deadly poison dart that deals 46-67 poison damage and an additional 57 poison damage over 2 seconds.

Cost: 176 Mana

Summon Zombie Dog

Summon Zombie Dog is a Support skill unlocked at Level 1.
Better known as "Mongrels," Zombie Dogs are the basic Witch Doctor pet, capable of tanking and fighting effectively, though they are not meant for a long life, and deal their best damage when Sacrificed.

Description: Summons 3 zombie dogs from the depths to fight by the Witch Doctor's side.

Cost: 176 Mana Cooldown: 60 seconds

Plague of Toads

Plague of Toads is a Physical Realm skill unlocked at Level 2.
The Witch Doctor summons several toads that hop forward like living Charged Bolts and explode against enemies. Some dramatic runestone effects are known for this skill.

Description: Release a handful of toads that explode on contact with an enemy, dealing poison damage.

Grasp of the Dead

Grasp of the Dead is a Support skill unlocked at Level 3.
A powerful curse, this one deals damage as well as slowing enemies for a short duration.

Description: Hands reach out, slowing enemies by X% and dealing X-X damage per second for X seconds.

Haunt

Haunt is a Spirit Realm skill unlocked at Level 4.
A ranged spell attack, this sics a ghostly entity upon the target, dealing DoT. The Haunt will seek a new target when its victim dies.

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.

Zombie Charger

Zombie Charger is a Physical Realm skill unlocked at Level 5.
A zombie is summoned, which charges straight in the direction specified, melting into nothing and dealing poison damage to any targes along the way. A runestone can grant the infamous Zombie Bears effect.

Description: A reckless, suicidal zombie deals X-X poison damage to all enemies in its way.

Hex

Hex is a Support skill unlocked at Level 6.
A curse of sorts, this one causes damage and blocks the afflicted's ability to attack.

Description: Summon a fetish shaman for X seconds that will hex enemies into chickens. Hexed enemies are unable to perform offensive actions and will take X% additional damage.

Corpse Spiders

Corpse Spiders is a Physical Realm skill unlocked at Level 7.
Spiders emerge from a rotting zombie corpse and launch themselves at nearby enemies, dealing poison damage with their swarming bites.

Description: Summon X spiders to attack nearby enemies.

Horrify

Horrify is a Spirit Realm skill unlocked at Level 8.
A powerful curse, this one frightens nearby enemies into running away for a few seconds. The radius emanates from the Witch Doctor, not from the spot targeted when cast, so it only works on enemies who are very nearby.

Description: Don a spectral mask that horrifies all enemies within X feet, causing them to run in fear for X seconds.

Firebats

Firebats is a Physical Realm skill unlocked at Level 9.
A short range spell attack, this sends flaming bats out in an Inferno-like spray, dealing damage to anything in their path.

Description: A swarm of fiery bats burn enemies in front of you for X fire damage per second.

Firebomb

Firebomb is a Physical Realm skill unlocked at Level 11.
Previously known as Skull of Flame, this is a ranged attack that's thrown like a grenade. It explodes on impact, dealing considerable fire damage. The projectile is a human skull, filled with an explosive liquid.

Description: Lob an explosive skull that deals X-X fire damage to all enemies caught in the explosion.

Spirit Walk

Spirit Walk is a Spirit Realm skill unlocked at Level 12.
A powerful movement/escape skill, especially useful in the Battle Arena. The Witch Doctor leaves his physical body behind as a decoy and can run freely, invisible, for several seconds.

Description: Enter the spirit realm, allowing unhindered movement for X seconds.

Soul Harvest

Soul Harvest is a Spirit Realm skill unlocked at Level 14.
A buff that increases the WD's spell damage based on how many enemies are nearby.

Description: Feed on the life force of nearby enemies. Gain X% increased spell damage per enemy within X feet for X seconds.

Sacrifice

Sacrifice is a Support skill unlocked at Level 16.
This skill causes a Mongrel to detonate in a huge spray of purple and pink smoke, dealing physical damage to all nearby enemies.

Description: A nearby zombie dog explodes, dealing X damage to all enemies within X yards.

Gargantuan

Gargantuan is a Support skill unlocked at Level 18.
A large, powerful zombie pet that tanks for the Witch Doctor.

Description: Summon a large level X zombie follower to fight for you.

Locust Swarm

Locust Swarm is a Physical Realm skill unlocked at Level 19.
A ranged spell attack, this sends out a cloud of locusts that swarm over enemies, eating their flesh from the bones. Locusts will chain between nearby enemies, potentially consuming numerous targets per cast.

Description: A plague of locusts assault enemies dealing X damage per second over X seconds. The locusts will jump to additional nearby targets.

Spirit Barrage

Spirit Barrage is a Spirit Realm skill unlocked at Level 21.
A DfA attack that's never yet been shown publicly. Acid Cloud covers a small radius, so presumably this one has a larger radius.

Description: A multitude of spirit bolts bombard enemies in the targeted area. Each bolt deals X-X arcane damage.

Acid Cloud

Acid Cloud is a Physical Realm skill unlocked at Level 22.
Originally a Wizard spell, this one was moved to the Witch Doctor to provide a DfA attack with a small radius that melts the flesh from the bones of anything in the targeted area.

Description: Acid rains down dealing an initial X-X poison damage followed by X-X poison damage per second to nearby enemies who remain in the area.

Mass Confusion

Mass Confusion is a Spirit Realm skill unlocked at Level 24.
A mind control spell that temporarily changes the alignment of some enemies.

Description: Incite paranoia in enemies, causing some to fight for the Witch Doctor for X seconds.

Big Bad Voodoo

Big Bad Voodoo is a Support skill unlocked at Level 25.
No description is available.

Wall of Zombies

Wall of Zombies is a Physical Realm skill unlocked at Level 27.
One of the showier Witch Doctor skills to be displayed in the early announcement, this one causes a wall of zombies to erupt from the earth. The WoZ blocks the progress of enemies as well as dealing physical damage to anything in range.

Description: Zombies erupt from the earth and attack nearby enemies for X damage per second.

Fetish Army

Fetish Army is a Support skill unlocked at Level 29.
The Witch Doctor is able to summon Fetishes, versions of the monsters from Diablo II, to fight for him. Never yet publicly seen.

Description: Summon an army of fetish creatures to fight by your side for X seconds.

Passive Skills

Passive skills replaced Traits during late game development in 2011. Many Traits were simply changed to passive skills, but some are all new. See the Witch Doctor traits page for a full list of those passives.

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.

Description

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="WitchDoctor">Circle of Life</skill>

Notes

• 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 Tactics

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.

Synergies

No synergies with any active skills or other Witch Doctor passives are known.

Development

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.

Beta

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 Versions

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

References

• HardRock's Witch Doctor Passive Skills — IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
• Witch Doctor Passive Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

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Vermin was removed in Beta Patch 15. This is for future curiosity and reference. This page is not to be updated with current info; See Witch Doctor passives for the latest information.

Vermin is a Witch Doctor passive skill unlocked at Level 10, which increases the damage of Plague of Toads, Corpse Spiders, Locust Swarm and Firebats.

Description

Skill	Unlocked	Description

Vermin

(Level 10)

Your Plague of Toads, Corpse Spiders, Locust Swarm and Firebats abilities do 20% more damage.

"You think the creatures a nuisance, but they are legion and you are alone. What will you say when they come for you?" — Seera the Weaver

Synergies

No synergies with any active skills or other Witch Doctor passives are known.

Development

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.

Beta

Vermin was not seen until it showed up in the Diablo III beta as a level 10 passive. In Beta Patch 15, Vermin was removed from the game.

References

• HardRock's Witch Doctor Passive Skills -- IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
• Witch Doctor Passive Skills -- Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

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Spiritual Attunement is a Witch Doctor passive skill unlocked at Level 13, which regenerates mana and increases maximum mana.

Description

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="WitchDoctor">Spiritual Attunement</skill>

Synergies

No synergies with any active skills or other Witch Doctor passives are known.

Development

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. When traits were changed back to passive skills in early 2011, Spiritual Attunement was moved directly from a level 39 trait to a level 3 passive.

Beta

The beta started in September 2011, and Spiritual Attunement was moved to level 13. Passives were reorganized for Beta Patch 14, but Spiritual Attunement didn't change.

Previous Versions

• Spiritual Attunement (trait) - As a trait.

See the traits page for more details on previous versions of this and many other passive skills.

References

• Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
• HardRock's Witch Doctor Passive Skills — IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
• Witch Doctor Passive Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

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Gruesome Feast is a Witch Doctor passive skill unlocked at Level 16, which increases Attack and maximum Mana after consuming a health globe.

Description

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="WitchDoctor">Gruesome Feast</skill>

Synergies

No synergies with any active skills or other Witch Doctor passives are known.

Development

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.

Beta

Gruesome Feast was not seen until it showed up in the Diablo III beta as a level 15 passive. When passives were reorganized for Beta Patch 14, Gruesome Feast was moved to level 16.

References

• HardRock's Witch Doctor Passive Skills — IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
• Witch Doctor Passive Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

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Blood Ritual (known as Ritual of Blood prior to September 2011) is a Witch Doctor passive skill unlocked at Level 20, which allows the Witch Doctor to draw some of his Mana costs from health, but also regenerates health.

Description

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="WitchDoctor">Blood Ritual</skill>

Synergies

No synergies with any active skills or other Witch Doctor passives are known.

Development

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. When traits were changed back to passive skills in early 2011, Blood Ritual (as Ritual of Blood) was moved directly from a level 15 trait to a level 18 passive.

Beta

When the beta started in September 2011, Ritual of Blood was renamed Blood Ritual and moved to level 17. When passives were reorganized for Beta Patch 14, Blood Ritual was moved up to level 20.

Previous Versions

• Ritual of Blood (skill) - The original passive skill.
• Ritual of Blood (trait) - As a trait, Ritual of Blood took 50% of mana costs from health.

See the traits page for more details on previous versions of this and many other passive skills.

References

• Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
• HardRock's Witch Doctor Passive Skills — IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
• Witch Doctor Passive Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

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Zombie Handler is a Witch Doctor passive skill unlocked at Level 24, which increases the number and health of the Witch Doctor's pets.

Description

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="WitchDoctor">Zombie Handler</skill>

Synergies

No synergies with any active skills or other Witch Doctor passives are known.

Development

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.

Beta

Zombie Handler was not seen until it showed up in the Diablo III beta as a level 19 passive. When passives were reorganized for Beta Patch 14, Zombie Handler was moved up to level 24.

References

• HardRock's Witch Doctor Passive Skills — IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
• Witch Doctor Passive Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

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Pierce the Veil is a Witch Doctor passive skill unlocked at Level 27, which increases damage but also increases mana costs.

Description

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="WitchDoctor">Pierce the Veil</skill>

Synergies

No synergies with any active skills or other Witch Doctor passives are known.

Development

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.

Beta

Pierce the Veil was not seen until it showed up in the Diablo III beta as a level 20 passive. When passives were reorganized for Beta Patch 14, Pierce the Veil was moved up to level 27.

References

• HardRock's Witch Doctor Passive Skills — IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
• Witch Doctor Passive Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

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Rush of Essence is a Witch Doctor passive skill unlocked at Level 36, which causes Spirit spells to regenerate mana.

Description

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="WitchDoctor">Rush of Essence</skill>

Synergies

No synergies with any active skills or other Witch Doctor passives are known.

Development

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.

Beta

Rush of Essence was not seen until it showed up in the Diablo III beta as a level 23 passive. When passives were reorganized for Beta Patch 14, Rush of Essence was moved up to level 36.

References

• HardRock's Witch Doctor Passive Skills — IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
• Witch Doctor Passive Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

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Vision Quest is a Witch Doctor passive skill unlocked at Level 40, which increases mana regeneration when several skills are on cooldown.

Description

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="WitchDoctor">Vision Quest</skill>

Synergies

No synergies with any active skills or other Witch Doctor passives are known.

Development

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.

Beta

Vision Quest was not seen until it showed up in the Diablo III beta as a level 25 passive. When passives were reorganized for Beta Patch 14, Vision Quest was moved up to level 40.

References

• HardRock's Witch Doctor Passive Skills — IncGamers 6th Sep 2011
• Witch Doctor Passive Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

Template:Skill navbox Diablo IIIFierce Loyalty Death Trance Tribal Rites |} Note: The listed levels of the passive skills are clearly a holdover of when they were traits and will change in the future.

Development

The Witch Doctor's skills and skill trees were first seen at BlizzCon 2008, with only a few skills enabled and many showing nothing more than vague descriptions in the skill tree. The listing was fleshed out at Blizzcon 2009, but most of his skills, especially the summoning ones, remained NYI. The current information was revealed at Blizzcon 2010, with the passive skills removed (see the Witch Doctor traits and a near-final skill listing.

A large number of the higher level WD spells have still never been shown publicly, in contrast to the skills of the Wizard and Barbarian, almost all of which have been shown off.

Removed Skills

• Pit of Fire
  
• Parasite
  

References

• Full Witch Doctor Skills
• Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report -- IncGamers 1st Aug 2011

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