Arachyr Firebats Witch Doctor

[Guest facebutt]

Not a speedfarming question. 

I've seen a few articles/vids about it, but none are great.  Why Sacred Harvester over Staff of Chiroptera in hand?

I get that there are mild stat advantages to having two ancients over one 2H ancient, and definitely the extra augment available with SH/Hive combo.  But here's the crux of my thinking, with the speed increase of Pain Enhancer and the added mana cost of Pierce the Veil, I can't sustain firebats for longer than maybe 35-40 seconds without mana running out.  (I have decent mana, over 1000.)  Even with well-spread Haunt and running the mana rune on Spirit Walk, I bottom out.  So the dilemma is whether I drop Pierce the Veil and lose the +20% damage, or if it's a viable alterative to wear the Staff of Chiroptera and cube the Sacred Harvester.

Thanks for input.

[Arkpit 101]

On 2017-02-05 at 11:26 PM, Guest facebutt said:

Not a speedfarming question. 

I've seen a few articles/vids about it, but none are great.  Why Sacred Harvester over Staff of Chiroptera in hand?

The argument for a 1-hand instead of a 2-hand is rarely because of the extra augment but rather for an extra legendary effect which is far more worth than anything since basically all builds revolve around combining legendary effects. By cubing the 2-hander you get an additional legendary effect, simple as that. 

Personally I skipped the Pain Enhancer, not just for the mana (but I did notice that issue as well), and just went with Powerful+Trapped+Stricken, this way I never had to swap gems for group vs. solo, works great with both setups.

You shouldn't take guides as an absolute for your character, make adjustments that fits your style and that solves the problem you're having, something I always have to do being a hardcore player :)

Edited February 8, 2017 by Arkpit

[Valks 2,375]

On 1/22/2017 at 6:00 PM, Guest Varix said:

Should I use this build with WD - Monk duo?

Super late, but yes, it can definitely work :)

[Valks 2,375]

On 1/23/2017 at 0:28 PM, Arkpit said:

@Blainie

Just a thought but it feels misleading that this particular forumpost have the headline "Speedfarming with Angry Chicken" when the guide is mostly about and the only place to discuss the Arachyr Firebats build :)

Once again super late, but I'll get it updated. A few of our Diablo guide threads are a bit oddly named. Will do an update of them soon.

[Valks 2,375]

On 1/24/2017 at 7:16 PM, Vya said:

Sorry for the super late reply but thanks again for clarifying this properly :)

Late from me too, but hey, no worries and if you have more questions, just ask! :)

[Valks 2,375]

On 2/5/2017 at 10:26 PM, Guest facebutt said:

Thanks for input.

Just confirming Ark's comment and also saying: attack speed is impacted by weapon speed.

[Valks 2,375]

On 2/8/2017 at 9:35 AM, Arkpit said:

You shouldn't take guides as an absolute for your character, make adjustments that fits your style and that solves the problem you're having, something I always have to do being a hardcore player :)

Thanks for helping above and here :)

[Guest Godada]

Can anyone please take a peak at my gear and let me know what im missing out on? because i feel like my gear is ok but im still struggling on grifts above 55 which doesnt sound right considering my dh has way shittier gear yet can handle grifts above 70.. Someone Please help! Here is a link to my profile  http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Godada-1811/hero/85704913

[Guest Mooner]

Noob question, how do you have Firebat as the primary skill and Haunt as the secondary?  They both appear to be secondary skills for me and I cannot figure out how to change it!

[Arkpit 101]

10 hours ago, Guest Mooner said:

Noob question, how do you have Firebat as the primary skill and Haunt as the secondary?  They both appear to be secondary skills for me and I cannot figure out how to change it!

Here you go!

Esc>Options>Gameplay>Elective Mode

With Elective mode you can assign any skill to any slot!

[Arkpit 101]

On 2017-02-21 at 1:25 PM, Guest Godada said:

Can anyone please take a peak at my gear and let me know what im missing out on? because i feel like my gear is ok but im still struggling on grifts above 55 which doesnt sound right considering my dh has way shittier gear yet can handle grifts above 70.. Someone Please help! Here is a link to my profile  http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Godada-1811/hero/85704913

I can see 3 things that you can change to get yourself some more damage:

1. Change the coils in the cube for Mantle of Channeling and you get 25% extra dmg and dmg-reduction instead of all survivability.

2. Change from Helltooth to the Arachyr set since Helltooth is 1500% and Arachyr is 2400% so there is no reason to use Helltooth anymore with the Firebats build. It's slightly outdated guide since I really think the Helltooth option should go away since the dmg buff on Arachyr.

3. Possibly the most important one, There is no socket in your ring? Where is your bane of the trapped gem? Bane of the Trapped is multiplicative dmg applied after all other calculations and is a MASSIVE boost to dmg. I could only see 1 legendary gem in your gear and it's a defensive one when you aren't even using your cheat death? Makes little sense to me if you are playing on Softcore and I doubt you play on hardcore without the Spirit Vessel passive.

[Guest Godada]

19 hours ago, Arkpit said:

I can see 3 things that you can change to get yourself some more damage:

1. Change the coils in the cube for Mantle of Channeling and you get 25% extra dmg and dmg-reduction instead of all survivability.

2. Change from Helltooth to the Arachyr set since Helltooth is 1500% and Arachyr is 2400% so there is no reason to use Helltooth anymore with the Firebats build. It's slightly outdated guide since I really think the Helltooth option should go away since the dmg buff on Arachyr.

3. Possibly the most important one, There is no socket in your ring? Where is your bane of the trapped gem? Bane of the Trapped is multiplicative dmg applied after all other calculations and is a MASSIVE boost to dmg. I could only see 1 legendary gem in your gear and it's a defensive one when you aren't even using your cheat death? Makes little sense to me if you are playing on Softcore and I doubt you play on hardcore without the Spirit Vessel passive.

ah.. thank you.. i do have the full arachyr set but not very many of them are ancients and are rolled with not so great stats. and i do have legendary gems but i switched em over to my demon hunter to farm some bounties but i currently am using lvl 50 bane of the trapped and stricken, but thank you i will try changing to mantle of channeling. i was just trying to add more survivability since my damage seems ok, its just everything seems to kill me so fast. ill try switching over and respond if i have any more problems.
thanks again!

[Arkpit 101]

On 2017-02-23 at 9:25 AM, Guest Godada said:

ah.. thank you.. i do have the full arachyr set but not very many of them are ancients and are rolled with not so great stats. and i do have legendary gems but i switched em over to my demon hunter to farm some bounties but i currently am using lvl 50 bane of the trapped and stricken, but thank you i will try changing to mantle of channeling. i was just trying to add more survivability since my damage seems ok, its just everything seems to kill me so fast. ill try switching over and respond if i have any more problems.
thanks again!

Also remember that non-ancient pieces is probably still more dmg because of the set-bonus you get from Arachyr so even if it's not ancient, try it out! :)

The Hex offers you some additional survivability as well, especially vs. elites/champs with them being chickens dealing no dmg to you.
Always remember that your survivability is based on you channeling firebats and the dmg of firebats needs to build up so it's not always a bad idea to spirit walk into pack, pop the hex and start channel the bats. In many cases you'll kill the pack after SW wears off and you reset it with GI.

[Guest TheNickelFenix]

Hey guys, I have a technical question I'm hoping someone can help with.

I finally found a manajuma carving knife and completed the set. Amen. Problem is both peicea rolled low defensive stats and is making my wd a little bit squidgy...  I am considering a slight Modification here.

I am looking to maximize the Helltooth potential by swapping out the spirit walk skill with wall of death - poison circle rube. Lets face it the manajuma set with angy chicken hex makes spirit walk obsolete for its purpose in speed farming...

Now I am hoping to strike a powerful synergy here, I plan to use wormwood and jeram bracers at kanai's cube and swapping out one my passives to bad medicine. 

The idea is to charge and explode in a pack with angry chicken drop 3 poison circles with jeram bracers cast a locust swarm and firebat what ever is left standing...

here is the kicker and my question... the helltooth set says necrosis "slows" afflicted enemies does anybody have any experience and could acknoledge if the necrosis buff of the helltooth set triggers the bane of the trapped buff?

if this is the case this should synergize both a very strong defensive and offensive tactic via the bad medicine passive (locust swarm and circle of poison WOD) and bane of the trapped gem, respectively...

thoughts?

[Arkpit 101]

On 2017-03-06 at 3:49 PM, Guest TheNickelFenix said:

The idea is to charge and explode in a pack with angry chicken drop 3 poison circles with jeram bracers cast a locust swarm and firebat what ever is left standing...

here is the kicker and my question... the helltooth set says necrosis "slows" afflicted enemies does anybody have any experience and could acknoledge if the necrosis buff of the helltooth set triggers the bane of the trapped buff?

if this is the case this should synergize both a very strong defensive and offensive tactic via the bad medicine passive (locust swarm and circle of poison WOD) and bane of the trapped gem, respectively...

thoughts?

Having a hard time visualizing some of the things you are writing so I need to ask a few things and post my thoughts as I go.

You want to maximize Helltooth set but you are talking about Firebats as your primary dmg dealer? This is not recommended since you want to use the Arachyr instead if you want the extra blast in dmg considering that the set bonus for Firebats is MUCH higher with it.

You also mention you feel squishy so I cannot recommend that you use the Jerams for Wall of Death. Instead:
If Arachyr, use the Mantle of Channeling in the cube to boost the defense and dmg.
If Helltooth, equip Lakumba and cube Tasker and Theo (For the extra Garg dmg)

I really cannot recommend using Helltooth set for the Firebats build overall after the changes to season 9. If you want to use Firebats build I strongly recommend going after the Arachyr, else go for a Gargantuan build with Helltooth for best performance.

Regarding the wormwood, it's great to speedfarm with for a Firebat build considering your belt gives a boost and if you feel squishy, keep the Insect rune on the skill and you're solid.

About Necrosis + Bane of the Trapped, yes. All slows in the game will trigger Trapped as far as I'm aware so use the Spirits as a rune and you gain additional defense!

Edited March 8, 2017 by Arkpit

[DutchRide 3]

Not sure if this was answered already but what cooldown reduction percent is needed to be able to just spam the chicken at things until they're dead? Sure there's a point at which you could lean more towards damage or another skill because Hex comes up so quickly. Thanks. 

[Guest Question]

Is it better to wear Unity for elite damage or Emptiness for area damage (assuming you have a 300% roll)?

[Arkpit 101]

On 2017-04-22 at 11:11 AM, Guest Question said:

Is it better to wear Unity for elite damage or Emptiness for area damage (assuming you have a 300% roll)?

Ring of Emptiness is definitly required in this build if you want to deal damage. In terms of raw damage the Unity doesn't come close.

[Guest Question]

20 hours ago, Arkpit said:

Ring of Emptiness is definitly required in this build if you want to deal damage. In terms of raw damage the Unity doesn't come close.

Yes but both are used; one is worn and the other is cubed, so is the elite damage or the area damage better?

[Arkpit 101]

2 hours ago, Guest Question said:

Yes but both are used; one is worn and the other is cubed, so is the elite damage or the area damage better?

Not sure I understand. 

If you are wearing both, why is it a question about which one is doing the most for you unless you are trying to switch one out, in taht case would need to see what you intent to switch.

[Guest Question]

10 hours ago, Arkpit said:

Not sure I understand. 

If you are wearing both, why is it a question about which one is doing the most for you unless you are trying to switch one out, in taht case would need to see what you intent to switch.

The ideal Unity would have crit chance, crit damage, elite damage and socket. Unity rolls with crit chance, elite damage and main stat, so the only way to get both crit stats would be if the last primary affix rolled socket or crit damage so that main stat could be enchanted to the other stat. This is the only way to have both crit stats on Unity because elite damage cannot be rolled away.

Emptiness, like most other rings however, cannot roll with elite damage, so you have a choice between Intelligence or area damage (a consideration for high paragon setups).

[Arkpit 101]

10 hours ago, Guest Question said:

The ideal Unity would have crit chance, crit damage, elite damage and socket. Unity rolls with crit chance, elite damage and main stat, so the only way to get both crit stats would be if the last primary affix rolled socket or crit damage so that main stat could be enchanted to the other stat. This is the only way to have both crit stats on Unity because elite damage cannot be rolled away.

Emptiness, like most other rings however, cannot roll with elite damage, so you have a choice between Intelligence or area damage (a consideration for high paragon setups).

Oooooh! Right now I understand your dilemma, sorry for being slow ;)

I honestly feel it comes down to the roll luck because a perfectly rolled Emptiness will be better than the 15% elite damage. Having the 300%, CHC, CHD both high and the int. But basically in any other case, 1 or 2 stats not rolled well and the Unity will probably be better, not because the elite% dmg alone but also the added increase in damage from a max Emptiness effect.

So yeah, Perfect Emptiness worn but I would wear Unity (Pref not a crap rolled one ofc ;) ) otherwise.

[Hapo 0]

I dont know if someone already adressed this but when clicking the "Solo Progression" tab in the skill chart it doesnt change Hex to Wall of Death.

It should change since the "Solo Progression" is supose to be done with the Hellthooth Set wich uses the that skill.

[Valks 2,375]

On 5/1/2017 at 7:36 PM, Hapo said:

I dont know if someone already adressed this but when clicking the "Solo Progression" tab in the skill chart it doesnt change Hex to Wall of Death.

It should change since the "Solo Progression" is supose to be done with the Hellthooth Set wich uses the that skill.

Reporting this to the writer, thanks!

[Doped 0]

Hi there

Can anyone help me figure out why i can't get past GR 70 ?.
Here's My Witch Doctor

Hope someone can help me out here !.