Witch Doctor skills

The Witch Doctor Skill Tree as seen in Blizzcon 2009. Skill are no longer presented in this fashion. Image by Muldric.

This page lists the Witch Doctor skills. Follow the links to the individual skill pages for full discussion of every skill, including first hand reports and screenshots.

Useful skill links:

Skills - General skill design and mechanics.
- Skill runes - The huge skill customization and improvement system.
Witch Doctor - A ranged class who also relies on pets.
- Mana - The Witch Doctor's energy resource.
- Witch Doctor skills - A list of all the Witch Doctor's active skills.
  - Pets - Summoned creatures that aid the Witch Doctor.
  - Physical realm spells - Details to come.
  - Spirit spells - Details to come.
- Witch Doctor passives - A list of all the Witch Doctor's passive skills.
Witch Doctor skill archive - Removed Witch Doctor skills.
Witch Doctor traits - Passive skills in Diablo III were called traits for a while before reverting back.

[edit] Active Skills

Click to the individual skill pages for more details about these skills including numbers, screenshots, skill rune information, blue quotes, and much more.

[edit] Primary

Name	Level	Description

Poison Dart
(database)
Primary
Physical realm spell

1

Cost: 9.8 Mana

Shoot a deadly Poison Dart that deals 100% weapon damage as Poison and an additional 40% weapon damage as Poison over 2 seconds.

Corpse Spiders
(database)
Primary
Physical realm spell

3

Cost: 4.9 Mana

Throw a jar with 4 spiders that attack nearby enemies for a total of 120% weapon damage as Physical before dying.

Plague of Toads
(database)
Primary
Physical realm spell

11

Cost: 12 Mana

Release a handful of toads that deal 130% weapon damage as Poison to enemies they come in contact with.

Firebomb
(database)
Primary
Physical realm spell

21

Cost: 9.8 Mana

Lob an explosive skull that deals 110% weapon damage as Fire to all enemies within 8 yards.

[edit] Secondary

Name	Level	Description

Grasp of the Dead
(database)
Secondary

2

Cost: 122.5 Mana

Cooldown: 8 seconds

Ghoulish hands reach out from the ground, slowing enemy movement by 60% and dealing 320% weapon damage as Physical over 8 seconds.

Firebats
(database)
Secondary
Physical realm spell

5

Cost: 98 Mana

Call forth a swarm of fiery bats to burn enemies in front of you for 180% weapon damage as Fire.

Haunt
(database)
Secondary
Spirit spell

12

Cost: 98 Mana

Haunt an enemy with a spirit, dealing 575% weapon damage as Arcane over 6 seconds. If the target dies, the spirit will haunt another nearby enemy.

Locust Swarm
(database)
Secondary
Physical realm spell

21

Cost: 196 Mana

Unleash a plague of locusts that swarms an enemy, dealing 360% weapon damage as Poison over 8 seconds. The locusts will jump to additional nearby enemies.

[edit] Defensive

Name	Level	Description

Summon Zombie Dogs
(database)
Defensive
Pet

4

Cost: 49 Mana

Cooldown: 45 seconds

Summon 4 Zombie Dogs from the depths to fight by your side. Each dog deals 9% of your weapon damage as Physical per hit.

This skill is affected by your characters: Zombie Handler, Skill Level (set to 1 for example above)

Horrify
(database)
Defensive
Spirit spell

8

Cost: 36.75 Mana

Cooldown: 16 seconds

Don a spectral mask that horrifies all enemies within 12 yards, causing them to run in Fear for 4 seconds.

Spirit Walk
(database)
Defensive
Spirit spell

16

Cost: 49 Mana

Cooldown: 15 seconds

Leave your physical body and enter the spirit realm for 2 seconds. While in the spirit realm, your movement is unhindered.

Your link to the spirit realm will end if your physical body sustains 50% of your maximum Life in damage.

Hex
(database)
Defensive

22

Cost: 49 Mana

Cooldown: 15 seconds

Summon a Fetish Shaman for 12 seconds that will hex enemies into chickens. Hexed enemies are unable to perform offensive actions and take 10% additional damage.

[edit] Terror

Name	Level	Description

Soul Harvest
(database)
Terror
Spirit spell

9

Cost: 58.8 Mana

Cooldown: 15 seconds

Feed on the life force of up to 5 enemies within 16 yards. Gain 130 Intelligence for each affected enemy. This effect lasts 30 seconds.

This skill is affected by your characters: Level (set to 60 for example above)

Sacrifice
(database)
Terror

13

Banish your Zombie Dogs and cause them to explode, each dealing 275% of your weapon damage as Physical to all enemies within 12 yards.

Mass Confusion
(database)
Terror
Spirit spell

22

Cost: 73.5 Mana

Cooldown: 60 seconds

Incite paranoia in enemies, confusing them and causing some to fight for you for 12 seconds.

[edit] Decay

Name	Level	Description

Zombie Charger
(database)
Decay
Physical realm spell

14

Cost: 139.65 Mana

Call forth a reckless, suicidal zombie that deals 205% weapon damage as Poison to all enemies in its path before decomposing.

Spirit Barrage
(database)
Decay
Spirit spell

17

Cost: 107.8 Mana

Bombard a target with a spirit blast that deals 230% weapon damage as Physical.

Acid Cloud
(database)
Decay
Physical realm spell

22

Cost: 171.5 Mana

Cause acid to rain down, dealing an initial 115% weapon damage as Poison, followed by 150% weapon damage as Poison over 3 seconds to enemies who remain in the area.

Wall of Zombies
(database)
Decay
Physical realm spell

28

Cost: 102.9 Mana

Cooldown: 20 seconds

Raise a line of zombies from the ground that attacks nearby enemies for 800% weapon damage as Physical over 5 seconds.

[edit] Voodoo

Name	Level	Description

Gargantuan
(database)
Voodoo
Pet

19

Cost: 147 Mana

Cooldown: 60 seconds

Summon a Gargantuan zombie to fight for you. The Gargantuan attacks for 100% of your weapon damage as Physical.

Big Bad Voodoo
(database)
Voodoo

25

Cooldown: 120 seconds

Conjure a Fetish that begins a ritual dance that increases the attack speed and movement speed of all nearby allies by 20% for 20 seconds.

Fetish Army
(database)
Voodoo

30

Cooldown: 120 seconds

Summon an army of dagger-wielding Fetishes to fight by your side for 20 seconds. The Fetishes attack for 20% of your weapon damage as Physical.

[edit] Passive Skills

Passive skills replaced Traits during late game development in 2011. Many Traits were simply changed to passive skills, but some are all new. See the Witch Doctor traits page for a full list of those passives.

Name	Level	Description

Circle of Life
(database)
Passive

10

Whenever an enemy dies within 12 yards, there is a 30% chance that a Zombie Dog will automatically emerge. The range of this effect is increased by items that increase your gold pickup radius.

Jungle Fortitude
(database)
Passive

10

Reduces all damage taken by you and your pets by 15%.

Spiritual Attunement
(database)
Passive

13

Maximum Mana is increased by 20%. Regenerate 1% of your maximum Mana per second.

Mana is the fuel you use to cast offensive and defensive skills.

Gruesome Feast
(database)
Passive

16

Whenever you are healed by a health globe, you gain 10% of your maximum Mana and 10% Intelligence for 10 seconds. The Intelligence bonus can stack up to 5 times.

Bad Medicine
(database)
Passive

20

Whenever you deal Poison damage to an enemy, their damage is reduced by 20% for 3 seconds.

Blood Ritual
(database)
Passive

20

15% of Mana costs are paid with Life. In addition, you regenerate 1% of your maximum Life per second.

Zombie Handler
(database)
Passive

24

You can have 4 Zombie Dogs summoned at one time. The health of your Zombie Dogs and Gargantuan is increased by 20%.

Pierce the Veil
(database)
Passive

27

All of your damage is increased by 20%, but your Mana costs are increased by 30%.

Fetish Sycophants
(database)
Passive

30

Whenever you cast a physical realm spell, you have a 5% chance to summon a dagger-wielding Fetish to fight by your side for 60 seconds.

Physical realm spells are:
Poison Dart
Plague of Toads
Zombie Charger
Corpse Spiders
Firebats
Firebomb
Locust Swarm
Acid Cloud
Wall of Zombies

Spirit Vessel
(database)
Passive

30

Reduces the cooldown of your Horrify, Spirit Walk, and Soul Harvest spells by 2 seconds. In addition, the next time you receive fatal damage, you automatically enter the spirit realm for 2 seconds and heal to 15% of your maximum Life. This effect cannot occur more than once every 90 seconds.

Rush of Essence
(database)
Passive

36

Spirit spells return 49 Mana over 10 seconds.

Spirit spells are:
Haunt
Horrify
Mass Confusion
Soul Harvest
Spirit Barrage
Spirit Walk

Vision Quest
(database)
Passive

40

When you deal damage with Corpse Spiders, Firebomb, Plague of Toads or Poison Dart, your Mana regeneration is increased by 30% for 5 seconds.

Fierce Loyalty
(database)
Passive

45

All your pets get 100% of the benefit of your Thorns and Life regeneration items.

Grave Injustice
(database)
Passive

50

Whenever an enemy dies within 8 yards, regain 2% of your maximum Life and Mana and the cooldown on all of your abilities is reduced by 1 second. This range is extended by items that increase your gold pickup radius.

Tribal Rites
(database)
Passive

55

The cooldowns of your Fetish Army, Big Bad Voodoo, Hex, Gargantuan, Summon Zombie Dogs and Mass Confusion abilities are reduced by 25%.

[edit] Skill Distribution

A useful player-made chart showing when the Witch Doctor gains access to skills, passives, and rune effects.

Witch Doctor skill progression. Stats as of May 5, 2012.

[edit] Development

The Witch Doctor's skills and skill trees were first seen at BlizzCon 2008, with only a few skills enabled and many showing nothing more than vague descriptions in the skill tree. The listing was fleshed out at Blizzcon 2009, but most of his skills, especially the summoning ones, remained NYI. The current information was revealed at Blizzcon 2010, with the passive skills removed (see the Witch Doctor traits and a near-final skill listing.

A large number of the higher level WD spells have still never been shown publicly, in contrast to the skills of the Wizard and Barbarian, almost all of which have been shown off.

[edit] Removed Skills

[edit] References

Full Witch Doctor Skills
Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report -- IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
Witch Doctor Overview -- Diablo III 13th Sep 2011

Fan-made Classes			Fan-made Skills [e]
• Alchemist • Arcane Warrior • Artisan • Aurian Mage • Bard • Channeller • Dragon Warrior	• Flagellant • Giant (U) • Hollow Man • Nomad • Onaga Manji • Phase Knight	• Ranger • Slayer (U) • Techpriest (U) • Telepath • Untainted (U) • Zealot	Dragon Warrior Skills • Bow and Throwing Skill Tree • Dragon Disciplines Skill Tree • Martial Arts Skill Tree	Untainted Skills • Divine Skill Tree • Void Skill Tree • Wrath Skill Tree	Aurian Mage Skill • Holy Power Skill Tree • Shadow Spells Skill Tree • Nature Forces Skill Tree
(U) = Unfinished

Personal tools

Quick Links

Navigation

Views

Witch Doctor skills

From Diablo Wiki

Contents

[edit] Active Skills

[edit] Primary

[edit] Secondary

[edit] Defensive

[edit] Terror

[edit] Decay

[edit] Voodoo

[edit] Passive Skills

[edit] Skill Distribution

[edit] Development

[edit] Removed Skills

[edit] References