Zuni Carnevil Poison Dart Witch Doctor Speed Farming Variation

Last updated on Oct 23, 2024 at 09:00 by Deadset 42 comments
Build Variations Updated for Season 33, Patch 2.7.8 Main Build Solo Greater Rift Progression Nephalem Rift Farming
1.

Speed Farming

The Zuni / Carnevil Poison Dart Witch Doctor can deal reasonably well with Normal Rift farming all the way through the highest Torment difficulties. The build variation suffers from minor inconveniences compared to top tier speed farming builds. We have solo speed GR rankings and solo speed T16 rankings if you want to know more about which builds are best for speed farming.

Within the limited scope of regular difficulties, the necessary damage and toughness to triumph over the enemy is significantly smaller. Thus, your best course of action is to improve utility and speed.

Active Skills
Left Mouse Button Poison Dart Icon Poison Dart Spined Dart Spined Dart Right Mouse Button Piranhas Icon Piranhas Piranhado Piranhado 1 Horrify Icon Horrify Stalker Stalker 2 Spirit Walk Icon Spirit Walk Severance Severance 3 Soul Harvest Icon Soul Harvest Soul to Waste Soul to Waste 4 Fetish Army Icon Fetish Army Legion of Daggers Legion of Daggers
Passive Skills
2.

Adapting Rotation

When you are speed farming regular rifts, parts of your playstyle will adapt to the lowered challenge and focus more on speed and utility.

The DoD build opens up runs with a summon of the Fetish Army Fetish Army, quickly rushing to the nearest fight to open up the Poison Dart Poison Dart barrage and swell the army's ranks via Fetish Sycophants Fetish Sycophants. You will exert control over the enemy via Piranhas Piranhas Piranhado Piranhado, pulling the enemies in one spot for the convenience of the Fetishes' destruction. Speed yourself up throughout the rift through a combination of Spirit Walk Spirit Walk Severance Severance, Horrify Horrify Stalker Stalker and Soul Harvest Soul Harvest Soul to Waste Soul to Waste, and keep your Gruesome Feast Gruesome Feast stacked with an Avarice Band Avarice Band.

3.

Adapting Skills

Parts of the skill and passive selection will overlap with the base Greater Rift progression build, but others will have to change according to the task at hand. Ability to cross over great distances faster and more efficiently take precedence.

  • Your main damage dealer is still Poison Dart Poison Dart Spined Dart Spined Dart, its damage mimicked by Fetish Army Fetish Army Legion of Daggers Legion of Daggers and their interaction with Carnevil Carnevil.
  • You should alter Mana spender duties for the Zunimassa 6-piece set bonus between Piranhas Piranhas Piranhado Piranhado, which remains a reliable source of crowd control, and Haunt Haunt Poisoned Spirit Poisoned Spirit.
  • While a movement skill is still necessary (if not more) during speed farming, you should adapt Spirit Walk Spirit Walk from the safer Jaunt Jaunt to the faster movement of the Severance Severance rune.
  • The same applies to Soul Harvest Soul Harvest, which is still a valuable buff, but instead of the overkill toughness of Languish Languish, it should alter to the movespeed bonuses of Soul to Waste Soul to Waste.
  • Taking out the moderate but consistent damage bonuses of Confidence Ritual Confidence Ritual for the "higher killspeed, bigger reward" bonuses of Gruesome Feast Gruesome Feast.
  • Since the extra damage from Pierce the Veil Pierce the Veil will not be required, remove it for the movement speed increase of Fierce Loyalty Fierce Loyalty.
4.

Adapting Gear

You will still be taking advantage of the full 6-piece set bonuses of Zunimassa, incorporating the same split as you would in progression — running five set pieces and filling the rest of the armor slots with utility legendaries. Of course, you will get the complete Zuni bonuses by using a Ring of Royal Grandeur Ring of Royal Grandeur in the Cube.

The static, positioning-dependent bonuses of the Endless Walk set greatly diminish in usefulness during Normal Rift farming. That progression-oriented jewelry will be better replaced by Squirt's Necklace Squirt's Necklace for the additional damage multiplier, and a Rechel's Ring of Larceny Rechel's Ring of Larceny in solo farming, or an Avarice Band Avarice Band in groups. Rechel's Ring of Larceny Rechel's Ring of Larceny offers a massive movement boost whenever you Horrify Horrify the enemies, and will greatly speed up your clears. Avarice Band Avarice Band's pickup radius bonus is incredibly synergistic with a Witch Doctor, as it benefits not only your movement speed through a socketed Boon of the Hoarder Boon of the Hoarder, but also your staple speed farm passives like Grave Injustice Grave Injustice and Gruesome Feast Gruesome Feast. When you farm solo, you can equip your Follower with the Avarice Band Avarice Band and it will "Emanate" to you (meaning you gain the benefits of the item as if you wore it yourself), opening the slot for Rechel's. If you farm in groups, you will have to wear the Avarice Band Avarice Band yourself.

Since the extra DPS from The Witching Hour The Witching Hour likely will not be necessary, you can also wear a Goldwrap Goldwrap. Synergizing with Boon of the Hoarder Boon of the Hoarder, Goldwrap Goldwrap will render you practically invulnerable and allow you to focus on killing and looting without regards for your safety.

For most of your early farming, you can stick to Lakumba's Ornament Lakumba's Ornament as your bracer, as it offers sensible protection that ties nicely with your skill rotation. Once you grow comfortable with the survivability procs from Goldwrap Goldwrap however, you can consider altering your bracer to Warzechian Armguards Warzechian Armguards in solo play, or to Nemesis Bracers Nemesis Bracers in groups. Warzechian Armguards Warzechian Armguards offer environment destruction-based speed boosts that will greatly improve your rift clear speeds. The former favorites for the slot, Nemesis Bracers Nemesis Bracers, are still quite useful in the build, but during solo farming they can be equipped on your follower, and their power will "Emanate" to you ((meaning you gain the benefits of the item as if you wore it yourself).

Slot Pieces Stat Priority
Head
  1. Intelligence
  2. Socket
  3. Critical Hit Chance
  4. Vitality
  5. Crowd Control Reduction (Secondary Stat)
Shoulders
  1. Intelligence
  2. Fetish Army Damage %
  3. Area Damage
  4. Cooldown Reduction
  5. Pickup Radius (Secondary Stat)
  6. Health Globe Healing Bonus (Secondary Stat)
Torso
  1. Intelligence
  2. 3 Sockets
  3. Fetish Army Damage %
  4. Vitality
  5. Melee or Missile Damage Reduction (Secondary Stat)
  6. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Wrists
  1. Intelligence
  2. Critical Hit Chance
  3. Poison Damage %
  4. Vitality
  5. Melee or Missile Damage Reduction (Secondary Stat)
  6. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Hands
  1. Intelligence (replaced by Area Damage at High Paragons)
  2. Critical Hit Damage
  3. Critical Hit Chance
  4. Attack Speed
  5. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
  6. Pickup Radius (Secondary Stat)
Waist
  1. Intelligence
  2. Poison Dart % Damage
  3. Attack Speed (if The Witching Hour The Witching Hour)
  4. Critical Hit Damage (if The Witching Hour The Witching Hour)
  5. Pickup Radius (Secondary Stat)
  6. Life per Kill (Secondary Stat)
Legs
  1. Intelligence
  2. 2 Sockets
  3. Poison Dart % Damage
  4. Vitality
  5. Armor
  6. Life per Kill (Secondary Stat)
Feet
  1. Intelligence
  2. Vitality
  3. All Resistance
  4. Armor
  5. Pickup Radius (Secondary Stat)
  6. Health Globe Healing Bonus (Secondary Stat)
Amulet
  1. Socket
  2. Critical Hit Damage
  3. Critical Hit Chance
  4. Poison Damage %
  5. Melee or Missile Damage Reduction (Secondary Stat)
  6. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Ring #1
  1. Socket
  2. Critical Hit Chance
  3. Critical Hit Damage
  4. Attack Speed or Area Damage
  5. Life per Kill (Secondary Stat)
  6. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Ring #2
  1. Socket
  2. Critical Hit Chance
  3. Critical Hit Damage
  4. Attack Speed or Area Damage
  5. Life per Kill (Secondary Stat)
  6. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Weapon
  1. High Weapon Damage
  2. Intelligence
  3. Socket (preferably from Ramaladni's Gift Ramaladni's Gift)
  4. Attack Speed Increase
  5. Area Damage
  6. Life per Kill (Secondary Stat)
Off-hand
  1. High Damage Range
  2. Intelligence
  3. Fetish Army %
  4. Area Damage
  5. Vitality
  6. Health Globe Healing Bonus (Secondary Stat)

To help you with farming the gear you need for your builds, we have two very useful guides that you can access by clicking the links below: a Salvage Guide to help you quickly check whether or not you can safely salvage a piece of gear and a Legendary Farming Guide to help you efficiently farm legendaries and set items.

4.1.

Altar of Rites

The former Season 28 theme, the Altar of Rites, has been revised and re-added to Diablo 3 as a permanent character progression mechanic. — For virtually all builds and players of all skill levels — from casual to advanced — we recommend progressing through the Altar tree using the path outlined below. The suggested path is geared towards maximum quality of life first, then amplifying damage, and then mopping up the tree with defensive and edge case utility nodes.

Note that while they require reaching them with a Seal, Legendary Potion Powers are not part of the Seal cost system; Potions unlock with a separate resource called Primordial Ashes, obtained from salvaging Legendary or Set items of Primal (red bordered) quality. Upgrade them as soon as possible, and in the order shown below (courtesy of Caleko's Altar of Rites planner).

Altar of Rites Planner

You can read more on the Altar of Rites, Seals and Legendary Potion Powers in our dedicated Altar of Rites Mechanics guide.

5.

Adapting Gems

Simplicity's Strength Simplicity's Strength and Enforcer Enforcer both still bring excellent damage multiplication value to the build in speed farming.

Once you are confident with your damage in Torments, you can substitute Bane of the Trapped Bane of the Trapped (or Bane of the Stricken Bane of the Stricken) with Boon of the Hoarder Boon of the Hoarder to increase your movement speed and provide near-infinite Toughness through its interaction with Goldwrap Goldwrap.

Slot Gems
Jewelry
Helm
Torso and Pants
Weapon

For more information about gems, please refer to our guide on gems.

6.

Adapting Kanai's Cube

Both Echoing Fury Echoing Fury and Mask of Jeram Mask of Jeram are necessary in the weapon and armor Cube slots respectively, with the former bringing massive Attack and Movement Speed value, and the latter being a direct buff to your summons.

Lastly, in order to maintain the valuable 6-piece bonus of Zunimassa as well as your array of utility legendaries, you will need to cube a Ring of Royal Grandeur Ring of Royal Grandeur in the jewelry slot.

In Season 33, where you get a 4th slot for the Kanai's Cube, you can introduce additional elite damage to the build by slotting Shukrani's Triumph Shukrani's Triumph there.

The Kanai's Cube can be used for much more than simply extracting Legendary powers from items. Please refer to our Kanai's Cube guide for more information.

7.

Follower

The recommended follower for this build during standard rift farming for keys is the Enchantress due to her numerous utility bonuses, allowing you to smooth out your speed runs even further.

For more information regarding followers, we advise you to read our Follower Guide, which contains detailed advice for choosing the skills and the gear of your follower.

8.

Legendary Potion

Your recommended potion is Bottomless Potion of the Tower Bottomless Potion of the Tower, whose Armor-increasing properties complement the naturally high All Resistances stat of Witch Doctors (due to Intelligence scaling Resistances) for optimal survivability.

9.

Changelog

  • 23 Oct. 2024: Added Season 33 advice for 4th Kanai slot.
  • 10 Jul. 2024: Added Season 32 advice for ethereal weapons.
  • 10 Apr. 2024: Guide reviewed for Season 31.
  • 10 Jan. 2024: Revised guide for the permanent addition of the Altar of Rites, and added Season-specific Soul Shard recommendations.
  • 13 Sep. 2023: Added Season 29 Paragon Cap and Gearing recommendations.
  • 22 Feb. 2023: Added Season 28 Altar of Rites recommendations.
  • 26 Aug. 2022: Added Season 27 Angelic Crucible recommendations.
  • 14 Apr. 2022: Guide reviewed for Season 26.
  • 06 Dec. 2021: Added Season 25 Soul Shard recommendations.
  • 22 Jul. 2021: Added S24 Ethereal recommendation.
  • 01 Apr. 2021: Added follower recommendation.
  • 19 Nov. 2020: Added Cube recommendations for Season 22.
  • 01 Jul. 2020: No changes required for Season 21.
  • 12 Mar. 2020: No changes necessary for Season 20.
  • 22 Nov. 2019: Enriched the guide with additional information and improved its stat table.
  • 23 Aug. 2019: Item recommendations were revised for Season 18.
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