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Author Topic: Oooga Booga (Witch Doctor Thread)  (Read 104566 times)
Xanthippe
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on: May 16, 2012, 06:44:50 PM

I ran into a bump about level late teens somewhere. I was in the desert, and suddenly started getting one- or two- hit by mobs. I died like 4 times in 10 minutes at one point.

Then I leveled, and got a Gargantuan. It's a big Ogre type tank mob. What a difference! (oh and I upgraded some gear which helped tremendously).

I've been leveling so fast that I haven't taken the time to really explore what I'm doing because I have been playing in public games exclusively. Nevertheless, I'm very, very happy with witch doctor. Very explodey and chaotic.
01101010
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You call it an accident. I call it justice.


Reply #1 on: May 16, 2012, 06:47:46 PM

Frogs and dogs and grasping hands ... slow but effective. I tend to hang back while my dogs scamper off so I rarely get my buff to work unless I plunge in for a health drop or purposely to hit the buff. The frogs are a tad chaotic and slow as shit so I pop back and forth with dire bat runed. It is nice, but murder on the mana.

Does any one know where the love of God goes...When the waves turn the minutes to hours? -G. Lightfoot
ShenMolo
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Reply #2 on: May 16, 2012, 06:55:53 PM

My Oogabooga is crazy fun. I was pleasantly surprised.

With all my toosn I play pretty much only co-op games, and have never seen another witch doctor.
Sjofn
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Reply #3 on: May 16, 2012, 07:03:52 PM

*I* keep winding up in games with two, which I sort of don't like because my god does the screen get SUPER BUSY when you have more than one hurling their shit around.

God Save the Horn Players
Segoris
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Reply #4 on: May 16, 2012, 07:09:18 PM

IMO pre-garg WD while solo just wasn't that fun. I tried a few times but it was so slow compared to grouping with even just a single melee character to run interference on mobs getting to you it was night and day. Things simply change drastically in the 20's.

The next big change, imo, is in the 40s if you're running a Vision Quest build. Though I'm not there yet I've seen it in action, it's sick just spamming Dire Bats awesome, for real

Edit: yeah, there can be a shitload of summons/pets on screen. I'll ask if anyone's bugged by it if they're someone I know, but complete pub games I don't give a crap and find it more entertaining changing spells randomly to see who I can fool with a new summon/pet graphic
Sjofn
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Reply #5 on: May 16, 2012, 07:15:40 PM

At least I don't resent said witch doctors or anything, it's just made it so I'm grateful I like the ranged classes this time around, I stand back and eat bonbons while I shoot into a giant pack of nonsense and assume something will fall over eventually.

Ingmar's been playing one and he has disgusting poison dogs right now. The way they run is creepy as hell. <3

God Save the Horn Players
Ghambit
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Reply #6 on: May 16, 2012, 08:33:17 PM

This thread is the name of my toon.   Oh ho ho ho. Reallllly?
Anyways, I've found frogs and vamp. bats to be the most useful with a garg taking tank duty.  I use exploding frogs as a slimy wall of firey death and anything that gets close get a nice dose of bats in the face (that happen to also regen my health).  Any scarier and I hit fear.  If I need to snipe mobs I use that soul thingie, which is like an early game heat-seeking magic missile essentially.

Did I mention my frogs fuckin explode?   Oh ho ho ho. Reallllly?

That flaming skull thing is pretty evil too though.  Really the biggest issue with WD is deciding how to play it; way too much playstyle variety.

"See, the beauty of webgames is that I can play them on my phone while I'm plowing your mom."  -Samwise
Cheddar
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Reply #7 on: May 17, 2012, 06:12:39 AM

Definitely a roller coaster ride.  Every 5 levels I go from face melting destruction to getting beat down.

I think gear has a huge effect on us.  I am noticing dramatic improvement as I try to keep up the gear portion of things.

And the skills! Soooo many... currently using the snag AOE thing, fire bats, poison dogs. and spiders as my main while trying to keep harvest soul up as much as possible (just unlocked the queen spider- gonna see how she works out).  Having issues deciding which passive I want- was running the mana one but swapped last night before logging to the 20% damage reduction one.  I got squishy all of a sudden!

No Nerf, but I put a link to this very thread and I said that you all can guarantee for my purity. I even mentioned your case, and see if they can take a look at your lawn from a Michigan perspective.
Ghambit
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Reply #8 on: May 17, 2012, 07:12:22 AM

I now have a giant frog that eats people.   awesome, for real   As a main attk no less.  Much like the smallfrogs though, it's basically a wall you hide behind.  Asploding frogs and acid could are the most fierce so far, but haunt if runed is better if you like DoTs.
As for stats and WD, it kinda sux INT isnt linked to mana and mana-regen.  That to me is our biggest issue.  And I have yet to find a gem with mana/regen in it.  All my passives are mana related.

The more I play though, the more it's apparent I should probably have a poison build. Especially with bad medicine.  If u combine that with Jungle Fortitude all your incoming dmg. is cut in half.   awesome, for real


"See, the beauty of webgames is that I can play them on my phone while I'm plowing your mom."  -Samwise
Draegan
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Reply #9 on: May 17, 2012, 07:40:00 AM

God I'm having so much fun with my WD over my Monk.  Monk was boring with just autoattack and win.

With the WD, I just hit Act 2 at level 16ish, I just crafted a +26INT axe  awesome, for real awesome, for real awesome, for real awesome, for real

My attacks are:
Leaping Spider Attack
Grasping Dead + Extra Damage
Zombie Charger
Harvest
Firedogs + Poison

Things just melt to my spiders, I don't even have to aim.   Anyone know what Spirit Walk is good for?  Getting into melee range to do shit?

Looking forward to some extra attacks, Gargantuan, spider queen, acid clouds etc. 


01101010
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Reply #10 on: May 17, 2012, 07:42:38 AM


Things just melt to my spiders, I don't even have to aim.   Anyone know what Spirit Walk is good for?  Getting into melee range to do shit?


I could see it being useful for getting into range to fire off a harvest on maximum targets and then drop back... but I am not there yet.

Does any one know where the love of God goes...When the waves turn the minutes to hours? -G. Lightfoot
Draegan
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Reply #11 on: May 17, 2012, 07:44:42 AM

Yeah.

Also, anyone find any use for Haunt?  Seems kind of shitty.
01101010
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Reply #12 on: May 17, 2012, 07:54:18 AM

Yeah.

Also, anyone find any use for Haunt?  Seems kind of shitty.

I toyed with it in a few crypts. You can fire it off quite often and it jumps around a lot - but I didn't use/test it out on huge groups to honestly give a thumbs up or down. Seems like a DoT curse that could be useful for adds and lower hp mobs since it could chain those pretty well.

Does any one know where the love of God goes...When the waves turn the minutes to hours? -G. Lightfoot
Ivanneth
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Reply #13 on: May 17, 2012, 09:40:56 AM

In later levels (I'm currently 12) do the dogs reach a point at which they become as useful as they were 1-10? For a while they were pretty great, but even with the 20% damage reduction thingy, decent armor + a shield and aggressively seeking out health orbs, I'm finding that all 3 usually get wiped out long before the 1 minute cooldown is up. I like the idea of disposable summons, but that 60 second cooldown is a long time to wait for dogs that are a little too disposable.
Draegan
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Reply #14 on: May 17, 2012, 10:32:05 AM

I had the same problem until my Templar had a heal aura + heal skill.  I also have leech rings, but I'm not sure if they work on pets.

Anyway, you can create a exploding dog build where dogs that explode make health orbs.
Ivanneth
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Reply #15 on: May 17, 2012, 10:42:46 AM

I had the same problem until my Templar had a heal aura + heal skill.  I also have leech rings, but I'm not sure if they work on pets.

Anyway, you can create a exploding dog build where dogs that explode make health orbs.

Originally I'd dismissed Sacrifice since I'd prefer to keep the dogs alive as a distraction, but if they're going to die anyway they might as well be useful in death. I guess a 60 second cooldown isn't bad for 3 heat seeking missiles.
Segoris
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Reply #16 on: May 17, 2012, 10:47:16 AM

I heard that dogs supposedly get better later on or as long as your gear is top notch as they're incredibly gear related. I don't know how accurate that is, but it's worth a shot

As for haunt - I use that in a single target rotation since it is a dot. Basically, I'd hit Haunt on a mob, spame dire bats, and then sometimes use Poison Dart/Spine Dart to regain mana for more bats. So farming/ae style it sucks (imo) but great for most bosses
Cheddar
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Reply #17 on: May 17, 2012, 10:58:31 AM

I heard that dogs supposedly get better later on or as long as your gear is top notch as they're incredibly gear related. I don't know how accurate that is, but it's worth a shot

I am pretty sure they are gear dependent.  Biggest change for me was getting the Gargantuan (19 level skill).  He seems to attract a lot of attention and thus my green doggies chew more.

No Nerf, but I put a link to this very thread and I said that you all can guarantee for my purity. I even mentioned your case, and see if they can take a look at your lawn from a Michigan perspective.
Ingmar
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Reply #18 on: May 17, 2012, 11:04:53 AM

In later levels (I'm currently 12) do the dogs reach a point at which they become as useful as they were 1-10? For a while they were pretty great, but even with the 20% damage reduction thingy, decent armor + a shield and aggressively seeking out health orbs, I'm finding that all 3 usually get wiped out long before the 1 minute cooldown is up. I like the idea of disposable summons, but that 60 second cooldown is a long time to wait for dogs that are a little too disposable.

Later on you can take a passive that ups dog/gargantuan health by 20% and lets you have an extra dog out. In my experience so far this is pretty much required if you're going to be relying on the dogs - mine were dying like crazy all through early Act 2 until I got the passive.

The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT.
Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
Hoax
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Reply #19 on: May 17, 2012, 11:05:27 AM

If you are playing hardcore with a WD please remember to not run a bunch of weak aoe spam shit that clutters the screen and makes it hard for melee to see the enemy ground aoe's that do massive damage. Witch Doctor is by far the least useful class and thankfully the one I've seen die the most often (only 3 deaths but that beats everyone else!). I've yet to feel bad when a WD dies in a game I'm in.

A nation consists of its laws. A nation does not consist of its situation at a given time. If an individual's morals are situational, then that individual is without morals. If a nation's laws are situational, that nation has no laws, and soon isn't a nation.
-William Gibson
01101010
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Reply #20 on: May 17, 2012, 11:18:39 AM

If you are playing hardcore with a WD please remember to not run a bunch of weak aoe spam shit that clutters the screen and makes it hard for melee to see the enemy ground aoe's that do massive damage. Witch Doctor is by far the least useful class and thankfully the one I've seen die the most often (only 3 deaths but that beats everyone else!). I've yet to feel bad when a WD dies in a game I'm in.

Oh really?  Ohhhhh, I see.

Does any one know where the love of God goes...When the waves turn the minutes to hours? -G. Lightfoot
Hoax
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Reply #21 on: May 17, 2012, 11:47:31 AM

Ya really. They have 3 big ground aoe's that make it hard to see important shit like ice bombs, poison, molton boss pack fire, etc.

Fuck WD's, there is def a smarter way to build them than the common build of big dumb pet, dogs, aerial poison vomit and some big fire shit that clutters the screen (sometimes two big fire shits! fuck you WD!) hasn't seemed to be all that great.

A nation consists of its laws. A nation does not consist of its situation at a given time. If an individual's morals are situational, then that individual is without morals. If a nation's laws are situational, that nation has no laws, and soon isn't a nation.
-William Gibson
Bann
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Reply #22 on: May 17, 2012, 12:55:06 PM

So much hate. I thought WD would be the class you would always want to see join your game. my plan for HC WD is to drop a gigantic acid cloud on the pack that reduces their damage output by 20%, run the haunt that causes enemies to take a crapton of more damage for bosses/elites, and run big bad voodoo, the insane attack speed buff. Are people really running Jar of spiders/frogs as a LMB skill?
Cheddar
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Reply #23 on: May 17, 2012, 12:59:48 PM

So much hate. I thought WD would be the class you would always want to see join your game. my plan for HC WD is to drop a gigantic acid cloud on the pack that reduces their damage output by 20%, run the haunt that causes enemies to take a crapton of more damage for bosses/elites, and run big bad voodoo, the insane attack speed buff. Are people really running Jar of spiders/frogs as a LMB skill?

I use the queen spider. 

Toss the AOE Snag down on group, toss in a queen spider, then spam two big fire shits through mobs.  Loot.  Repeat.

If I have soul harvest on 5 it melts anything in my path- otherwise it melts almost everything in my path.  My fav. is the fire shits; sometimes I spam them in town!

No Nerf, but I put a link to this very thread and I said that you all can guarantee for my purity. I even mentioned your case, and see if they can take a look at your lawn from a Michigan perspective.
Ingmar
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Reply #24 on: May 17, 2012, 01:03:31 PM

I tried spiders and toads both as LMB skills and found them wanting. At level 24 the only things that have really seemed good as LMB skills, at least for how I want to play the class, are the blowgun with the triple dart rune, or the thrown fire skull. The others all involve too much randomness or too much waiting around.

The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT.
Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
01101010
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You call it an accident. I call it justice.


Reply #25 on: May 17, 2012, 01:06:17 PM

Someone needs to learn to play harder.  why so serious?

Does any one know where the love of God goes...When the waves turn the minutes to hours? -G. Lightfoot
Sjofn
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Reply #26 on: May 17, 2012, 01:56:29 PM

So much hate. I thought WD would be the class you would always want to see join your game. my plan for HC WD is to drop a gigantic acid cloud on the pack that reduces their damage output by 20%, run the haunt that causes enemies to take a crapton of more damage for bosses/elites, and run big bad voodoo, the insane attack speed buff. Are people really running Jar of spiders/frogs as a LMB skill?

While they are extremely busy visually, I have come to realize that as long as I'm playing a ranged class, I really like the WD for all its sky vomit/disgusting eels/creepy fucking pets/fire bomb shit. *I* don't want to play one, but it makes it a lot easier for me to brain off -> damage on.  why so serious? I would probably hate them more if I was a melee person playing hardcore for sure, though.

God Save the Horn Players
Xanthippe
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Reply #27 on: May 17, 2012, 02:32:06 PM

I'm surprised anyone would play them hardcore. They're so squishy.
Ingmar
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Reply #28 on: May 17, 2012, 02:41:04 PM

I don't know, it seems to me to have a lot of ways to stay alive, really:

- Pets to run interference (especially with the 20% less damage taken and 20% more health + extra dog passive, can also rune the dogs to leave health globes behind, absorb damage, or lifelink)
- Attacks from range
- Multiple ways to snare/CC opponents (grabby zombie arms, snare rune on the dart, the hex fetish (who can also be runed to heal))

I can see it feeling squishy if you go for up-close stuff like firebats and toads and such, but I imagine all the classes have builds that are too dangerous for HC.

The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT.
Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
Draegan
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Reply #29 on: May 18, 2012, 08:35:16 AM

WD's get 20% passive damage reduction, and then a debuff of 20% from the mob if he's poisoned.  I'm only level 20 something, but if you put a poison attack in your rotation that's some decent damage reduction.

Mob does 1000 damage.  It then hits you for 800, then you get hit for 640 before armor and other mitigation takes place.  Assuming you're dropping locusts and acid clouds etc.

Right now I'm loving Gargantuan, Firebombs and Firebats with some Soul Harvesting and Grasp on the side.
kaid
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Reply #30 on: May 18, 2012, 09:19:18 AM

God I'm having so much fun with my WD over my Monk.  Monk was boring with just autoattack and win.

With the WD, I just hit Act 2 at level 16ish, I just crafted a +26INT axe  awesome, for real awesome, for real awesome, for real awesome, for real

My attacks are:
Leaping Spider Attack
Grasping Dead + Extra Damage
Zombie Charger
Harvest
Firedogs + Poison

Things just melt to my spiders, I don't even have to aim.   Anyone know what Spirit Walk is good for?  Getting into melee range to do shit?

Looking forward to some extra attacks, Gargantuan, spider queen, acid clouds etc. 





Eventually you can get runes that give you fast mana regen when spirit walked. Spirit walk is basically an escape spell or useful if you want to use soul harvest where you can spirt walk in and harvest and get back out while taking less damage.
Ivanneth
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Reply #31 on: May 18, 2012, 01:09:21 PM

After experimenting a bit, I've given up on the demon dogs. Hopefully they'll reduce the cooldown or buff them a bit at some point. It seems like the dogs suffer a bit from a lack of design focus - am I supposed to keep them alive and use them as a distraction? If so, why is there an entire ability designed specifically to blow them up? Are they intended as exploding cannon fodder? Then why does the summon ability have a 60 second cooldown?

The other abilities the WD has are great though - at level 16 I'm finding that Zombie Charger is a bit of a mana hog, but it's great for when I get backed into a corner (or get walled in by those infuriating walling bosses!) and my usual box of tricks - Soul Harvest + Spiders + Grasp + Horrify gets overwhelmed and I need to KILL ALL THE THINGS NOW.

It's looking like Grasp of the Dead is going to have a permanent place on my hotbar, too. Runing it for 80% slow and lobbing spiders at whatever gets caught in it feels almost like cheating.
Draegan
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Reply #32 on: May 18, 2012, 01:21:36 PM

There are passives and other things that provide a % chance to spawn dogs on their death and mob deaths.
Ingmar
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Reply #33 on: May 18, 2012, 01:24:08 PM

After experimenting a bit, I've given up on the demon dogs. Hopefully they'll reduce the cooldown or buff them a bit at some point. It seems like the dogs suffer a bit from a lack of design focus - am I supposed to keep them alive and use them as a distraction? If so, why is there an entire ability designed specifically to blow them up? Are they intended as exploding cannon fodder? Then why does the summon ability have a 60 second cooldown?

You're supposed to do whichever one of those things you feel like. That's what I'm really getting to like about the rune/passive system.

My pets are pretty kickass, but I've put a lot of resources into making them so - passive to increase pet health/number of dogs, passive to reduce damage done to me/pets, etc. The big zombie is ridiculously resilient, but the dogs are good too even though I'm using the rune to have them take hits for me. It helps if you pick your gear with an eye for stuff with a lot of vitality since that passes through to them. It helps you survive too. I'm really quite tanky at this point.

EDIT: I should note there are a couple elite types that do destroy them pretty well regardless (well not the big zombie) - molten in particular just owns the dogs.
« Last Edit: May 18, 2012, 01:27:16 PM by Ingmar »

The Transcendent One: AH... THE ROGUE CONSTRUCT.
Nordom: Sense of closure: imminent.
Ivanneth
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Reply #34 on: May 18, 2012, 02:41:13 PM

It helps if you pick your gear with an eye for stuff with a lot of vitality since that passes through to them.

THAT is what I'm doing wrong. I didn't realize that vitality passed through to pets - thanks!
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