Helltooth Acid Cloud Witch Doctor

[Deadset 108]

So I play on season and have a choice between non ancient Suwong or other ancient weapon  + offhand, what I wonder is how much damage does acid cloud really do in this build, Cause having -(25/30%) damage seemed like much bigger trade off, as both fire wall and piranya seem to be doing their big part. Also while having a slot for convention on elements (dont have "restraint" yet", i use ring of grandeur and switch chest for cindercoat, spiders for mana, and cloud for also fire.. is going that way viable or will I strugle too much for survival in later rifts?

 

In the suggested setup, there's a pretty even split between the DPS of Acid Cloud and Fire Wall, with the free Lob Blob rune adding a significant amount of single target over the course of a longer fight. You can try pushing harder into Fire Wall's direction though, and it will likely result in better survival (using Henri's, Thing of the Deep or a Uhkapian and slightly modifying the build). I'm not certain I'd drop the single target benefits though.

 

Having Cindercoat in a purely fire-based setup is likely very convenient for spamming, but you'll be missing a lot of damage by skipping the F&R combo, the biggest jewelry damage multiplier in the game.

[Guest Queldroma]

How can this build be competitive in the current conditions? While it's damage can be decent, the dmg mitigation is close to nothing, as the 60% dmg mitigation from the set is not enough for any GR higher than 70. Sacrificing any of the dmg slots for mitigation (for example bracers, or armor slot in kanai, or ring slot for unity) would reflect into a significantly lower dmg. I have not tested the dmg of this build in this patch so I don't know if that would make it un-viable, but this seems more like a fast farm build for gems or paragon leveling than a decent solo pusher build.

Do you have any thoughts / suggestions, Deadset?

[Deadset 108]

15 hours ago, Guest Queldroma said:

Do you have any thoughts / suggestions, Deadset?

There is a suggested swap in the Cube, Sacred Harvester in Furnace's place - this will extend the benefits of Soul Harvest Languish and still supply some damage (albeit lower than what you would get with a Furnace). You can also attempt a split of Endless Walk set + worn Convention of Elements + cubed Unity (but the build is very mobile and this will net you mostly damage mitigation). I do not doubt it will be weaker than the 'meta' Helltooth pet build, but I can see it breaking 80 in a properly optimized character (and I'd rather feature more than one guide per season :P )

[Queldroma 0]

2 hours ago, Deadset said:

There is a suggested swap in the Cube, Sacred Harvester in Furnace's place - this will extend the benefits of Soul Harvest Languish and still supply some damage (albeit lower than what you would get with a Furnace). You can also attempt a split of Endless Walk set + worn Convention of Elements + cubed Unity (but the build is very mobile and this will net you mostly damage mitigation). I do not doubt it will be weaker than the 'meta' Helltooth pet build, but I can see it breaking 80 in a properly optimized character (and I'd rather feature more than one guide per season :P )

I completely agree with you as I totally hate the pet build and I'm willing to try just about any spell-build for witch doctor...I've been trying the Arachyr firebats with the new bakuli belt, the Jade set and I'll also test this one, as I'd much rather play a spell-build witch doctor than a pet build, even if it means lower GR pushing. In your opinion, which spell build do you think is the strongest for the witch doctor? 

Thanks for your quick reply!

[Deadset 108]

On 5/31/2016 at 0:56 PM, Queldroma said:

In your opinion, which spell build do you think is the strongest for the witch doctor?

To my knowledge, Jade WD has been hovering around GR90 at this point, and I count it as a spellcaster build.

[Guest cdmoller]

I'm a bit confused. You refer to Iceblink multiple times in the lead-up, but in the legendary gems section it gets a mention, but under a different gem. Use Iceblink or not? And if so, what gem is it replacing?

[Warden 8]

3 hours ago, Guest cdmoller said:

I'm a bit confused. You refer to Iceblink multiple times in the lead-up, but in the legendary gems section it gets a mention, but under a different gem. Use Iceblink or not? And if so, what gem is it replacing?

I see Iceblink mentioned in the second paragraph of section 3, and then again in the gem section under Bane of the Trapped.  Bane of the Stricken is a newer gem that got added into a lot of existing builds after it came out.  So BotS likely replaced Iceblink, but they didn't get all the Iceblink references deleted.

Another typo: under the description for Bane of the Stricken, it refers to the build as Helltooth Gargantuan.  Probably a copy-n-paste error as they went around putting BotS into so many builds. :D

[Deadset 108]

Woops! Nice catch, submitted the revision :) To clarify here, do not use Iceblink and use Bane of the Stricken in its stead.

[Guest Question or Error]

Question / Error in your build possible or missing something ??

Why have that ring and weapon for cube both have no use in the build since locust swarm is not their to add any effects ??

Wormwood for cube weapon ??  Their is no locust swarm in the build so i don't see where any bonus benefit proc for that comes from since it wont trigger without that spell ??

Ring of Emptiness similar situation, it states "Both" so you have to have both dots  applied to get the benefit, or is it misread as either or for the bonus.

Of course very hard to read having 2 dots on always is more dmg discerning the ring proc for single or "both" the both seemed to have more effect vs 1 or the other in killing like the ring only worked during "both" applied times in the little I tested it.  But not clear and the testing is vague at best due to other bonuses using the rest of the gear to see if the ring along works with just 1 or both spell dots needed as it reads. 

 

[Guest otab]

On August 12, 2016 at 2:02 PM, Guest Question or Error said:

Question / Error in your build possible or missing something ??

Why have that ring and weapon for cube both have no use in the build since locust swarm is not their to add any effects ??

Wormwood for cube weapon ??  Their is no locust swarm in the build so i don't see where any bonus benefit proc for that comes from since it wont trigger without that spell ??

Ring of Emptiness similar situation, it states "Both" so you have to have both dots  applied to get the benefit, or is it misread as either or for the bonus.

Of course very hard to read having 2 dots on always is more dmg discerning the ring proc for single or "both" the both seemed to have more effect vs 1 or the other in killing like the ring only worked during "both" applied times in the little I tested it.  But not clear and the testing is vague at best due to other bonuses using the rest of the gear to see if the ring along works with just 1 or both spell dots needed as it reads. 

 

Wormwood itself automatically casts Locust Swarm every second.

[Guest Bedski]

At last a WD build that doesn't involve the Gargantuas and The Short Man's Finger and as a bonus, it works great.

I do have the Gargantuas build and I played lots with it but now I was looking for something different.

Haven't push far yet but I am at GR 58. Looking to go at least for GR 70+.

 

Thank you Deadset.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Bedski-1526/hero/26422179

[Deadset 108]

On 8/25/2016 at 11:55 PM, Guest Bedski said:

Thank you Deadset.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Bedski-1526/hero/26422179

Cheers dude, and props for playing something different!

[Nordstage 0]

Thanks for the build!

One question: will my skeleton friends from Grim Reaper cast my haunt and give me the damage bonus from Ring Of Emptiness, or do I have to manually cast haunt?

Thanks!

[Valks 2,375]

On 12/11/2016 at 1:16 AM, Nordstage said:

One question: will my skeleton friends from Grim Reaper cast my haunt and give me the damage bonus from Ring Of Emptiness, or do I have to manually cast haunt?

I believe you have to cast it.

[Guest Thewingman]

I have been having some issues with surviveability.  Does anyone have any suggestions on what to try first?  I was in a 56GR and can keep up damage wise.  But I keep getting into major trouble with burst damage.  I walk into a room and get 1 shotted constantly.  Gear changes or play style change recommendations would be appreciated.  I have the build set up exactly like it is now on the site, with the same gear and everything.  I am sure that it is a play style issue, so I would love to hear your suggestions.   

[Neogeo 0]

10 hours ago, Guest Thewingman said:

I have been having some issues with surviveability.  Does anyone have any suggestions on what to try first?  I was in a 56GR and can keep up damage wise.  But I keep getting into major trouble with burst damage.  I walk into a room and get 1 shotted constantly.  Gear changes or play style change recommendations would be appreciated.  I have the build set up exactly like it is now on the site, with the same gear and everything.  I am sure that it is a play style issue, so I would love to hear your suggestions.   

If you're getting one shot at low level GR, it's either one of two things. Check if you have enough armor roll on your items. You should have more than 75% armor after buff. Check if you have meet the paragon requirement for the GR. You should be at 400-500 paragon for GR50-60. If you solo, swapped out the Focus and Restrain for traveler set with unity. 50% damage reduction would help greatly. 

[Valks 2,375]

17 hours ago, Guest Thewingman said:

I have been having some issues with surviveability.  Does anyone have any suggestions on what to try first?

Link your character's armoury please.

[Guest ZeFSin]

Hello Deadset

Thank you, interesting build. I've tried it (quickly) but with top gear, it's fun too use and definately something new. However this will hardly go over 75 unles you're over 1K paragon and all augmented etc. just my opinion

take care

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Zef-2305/hero/83516241

 

[Guest DVDMaster]

Why not trade the primary skill + focus+restraint+hellfire amulet for traveler set (amulet + ring) + CoE/Unity + free skill slot.

If pressed for mana, change the haunt rune to the one that returns mana.

For skill slot you can use leeching dogs, soul harvest (armor),

[DutchRide 3]

Hey guys can we fit a Manajuma's set in here for speedfarming anywhere? Just looking to keep up with my brother who is playing a monk this season 10 and I can hardly keep pace. Angry Chicken is my only hope as far as speed goes. Thanks much. 

[Arkpit 101]

14 hours ago, DutchRide said:

Hey guys can we fit a Manajuma's set in here for speedfarming anywhere? Just looking to keep up with my brother who is playing a monk this season 10 and I can hardly keep pace. Angry Chicken is my only hope as far as speed goes. Thanks much. 

Absolutely! We got the best and the worst speedfarming in the game as WD depending on a few things:

No matter the build you run, you can always just swap the wpn/off-hand for the Manujama set and still be "ok" since you won't need the extra legendary effect from the primary weapon while simply speedfarming in general. This is the fantastic part about us.

With the good comes the bad and we suffer greatly in T13 farming unless you are pushing 1k paragon. With Manujama the optimal thing is to oneshot the packs with the chicken but that will basically never happen in T13 without perfect gear.

WDs excel at higher GRs but we'll never be as efficient in speedfarming as DH/Monk/Wiz.

TL;DR
If you farm T11 in the range of paragon 300-700 you are fine with simply equipping Manujama and change the Wormwood (Won't have time to let swarm spread) in the cube for a backup SuWong.

[Guest Kuroto]

I'm absolutely digging this build, only issue I'm running into at the moment is recovery. I'm plenty tanky, I never get oneshot, but with the recommended skills, paragon points, and items/rerolls theres actually zero investment into recovery other than extremely low priority paragon points.

 

Am I supposed to just not be hit at all? Seems not with the mid range requirements of confidence ritual and Wormwood. As it is, I basically just try to kite as hard as I can and wait out health orb drops/potion uses, but it seems like its going to be a major limiting factor as I get closer to GR 70 (currently 55 solo, but can definitely hit 60+ with what I've got). Any insight onto playstyle, gearing, or skilling options that would be a good fit for recovery would be much appreciated!

[Deadset 108]

On 7/22/2017 at 5:10 AM, Guest Kuroto said:

Any insight onto playstyle, gearing, or skilling options that would be a good fit for recovery would be much appreciated!

The survival comes from a combination of keeping up the Soul Harvest buff, staying in mid range for Swampland Attunement (keeping Arcane and Lightning resists in mind for your gear), and kiting from areas surrounded by your Fetish meat shields (from Belt of Transcendence). If kills come at a good pace to proc Grave Injustice you should also use Spirit Walk liberally, as it offers windows of pure invulnerability.

[Valhalen 1,484]

I have a question. Why is Wormwood recommended for the Cube if Locust Swarm is not used?

[Arkpit 101]

12 hours ago, Valhalen said:

I have a question. Why is Wormwood recommended for the Cube if Locust Swarm is not used?

Wormwood gives you an aura that automatically cast Locust Swarm (without a rune), as you get close enough to a target regardless if you have the skill equipped or not.