Spirit Barrage

Spirit Barrage is a Decay Witch Doctor skill unlocked at level 17. It's an attack skill, one that calls down projectiles from above, striking all enemies, with Arcane damage, in the target zone.

Background

Spirit Barrage in action.

The Witch Doctor sends forth spirits to barrage the enemy to death.

Skill Rune Effects

Refer to the Spirit Barrage rune effects article for thorough descriptions of all five rune effects in this skill, including screenshots, videos, and strategy tips.

Name	Level	Description

<skill subcat="Spirit spell" class="WitchDoctor">Spirit Barrage</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="The Spirit Is Willing">Spirit Barrage</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Well of Souls">Spirit Barrage</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Phantasm">Spirit Barrage</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Phlebotomize">Spirit Barrage</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor" rune="Manitou">Spirit Barrage</skill>

Skill Design

Like most Witch Doctor skills, this one relies on striking numerous enemies at once, or stacking multiple attacks simultaneously.

Synergies

The following Witch Doctor passives provide a benefit to Spirit Barrage, runed or not:

Name	Level	Description

<skill class="WitchDoctor">Pierce the Veil</skill> <skill class="WitchDoctor">Rush of Essence</skill>

Development

Spirit Barrage was first seen in the BlizzCon 2009 demo as a Tier IV skill on the Spirit Skill Tree, but was not yet implemented. It was also listed in the BlizzCon 2010 demo, though there are no gameplay reports of this skill from that event.

Beta

Skill tiers were removed shortly before the beta started in September 2011, and Spirit Barrage became a level 21 skill, out of the reach of beta players. Fortunately, it was one of the skills available in the BlizzCon 2011 PvP Arena, and Adivirgi described using it:[1]

...this ability was a bit slower to hit targets then firing the darts, but its major advantage was that once you targeted someone, the bolt would basically track the target until it hit them, so you didn’t really miss using this ability. The other major advantage was that you could shoot it through walls. It was nice to sit behind walls safely away from the battle and send these bolts out at enemies.

The skill system was once again overhauled for the Beta Patch 13 in February 2012, and Spirit Barrage was classified as a Decay skill and moved to level 17. It was nerfed slightly for Beta Patch 14, and had its mana cost increased for Beta Patch 15.

Media

Spirit Barrage 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
• Spirit Barrage specific gallery contents

References

• BlizzCon 2009 Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats
• Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report — IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
• BlizzCon 2011 PvP Demo: The Witch Doctor — IncGamers 27th Oct 2011
• Witch Doctor Active Skills — Blizzard's Official Diablo III Site

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer primary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer secondary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer corpses

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer bloodandbone

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer reanimation

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer curses