My never having played thoughts

[Roland]

I'm making a Witch Doctor as my first character. Eventually I'll probably make several other characters too and play them through softcore until I eventually decide what one I feel the best about for trying hardcore with. I suspect I'll spend a great deal of time solo. First up though will be the Witch Doctor and so I'm starting to make some plans for him already. Thought I might as well share the thoughts I'm having and see what people think or just generally start some discussion since the forum is empty right now. (Not that that is surprising with the forums just being made and the game not even out yet)

My first thought is that I want pets. So right off the bat that means having Summon Zombie Dogs as one skill. I'm thinking the dogs will be really defensive and mostly there to keep things off of me. So probably use the skill rune Leeching Beasts to help them stay alive.

Another pet is Gargantuan. Originally I was thinking Humongoid for him to add AOE, but I've noticed a lot of my choices are pure physical. So I'm thinking Big Stinker instead to give him AOE and me a non-physical damage source.

From there my thinking is that I need something to use as my basic attack. I'd like to stay at ranged if possible so that eliminates some options. With my affinity for pets I'm thinking Corpse Spiders are a good option. Skill them as Leeping Spiders just to make sure they can move around some and don't waste damage.

My next thought is that I need a more pure AOE than just the Gargantuan. The spiders can do that a tiny amount since if a mob dies they will move onto another one, but it still feels mostly single target. Acid Cloud looks good in the little video clip that is up on the site, but I'm thinking I might as well stick with the pet theme. Fire Bats seem interesting, but I'm not sure I like that it seems channeled in some clips I've watched. So I'm thinking Zombie Charger with Explosive Beast. That'll give me a 236% AOE that does fire too so help get away from the physical damage problem some more.

From there I'd think some kind of control spell would be good. So sticking with the pet theme yet again Wall of Zombies seems a good option. Use the Barricade rune just for good measure. I like the idea of throwing up a Wall and then lobbing spiders over it. Seems appealing.

That leaves one skill slot still available. I debated going for something like Sacrifice, but I don't really like the idea of losing my dogs to hide behind. I realize I could re-summon them or use Runes/Passives that will get more, but it just still doesn't feel quite right to me. So I'm thinking maybe a little more control like Plague of Toads with a Toad of Hugeness rune. That would give me a shorter cooldown control skill to use on individual mobs that get close. Something to do some damage, but give me time to run away too without having to use a whole Wall for one mob.

To sum up that leaves me with:

Summon Zombie Dogs (Leeching Beasts)
Gargantuan (Big Stinker)
Corpse Spiders (Leeping Spiders)
Zombie Charger (Explosive Beast)
Wall of Zombies (Barricade)
Plague of Toads (Toad of Hugeness)

For passives I'm thinking Jungle Fortitude since I'm wanting my dogs and such to stay alive. Fetish Sycophants since I'm using so many physical spells anyway. That leaves one passive slot. I've considered Zombie Handler since it would give 4 dogs and more health, but I feel like getting the 4th dog (waiting the 60 seconds and summoning again) would be awkward and the reduction from the other passive is probably enough anyway. Especially combined with them leeching. So instead I'm thinking Pierce the Veil. The hope being that the mana cost won't really hurt much since two of my skills are pets so don't need constant mana and my main skill (Leeping Spiders) is cheap. Not sure how that will work out though.

That gives an end build of: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wi...ZeW!aYcaZY

The worry I would have with the build is that in D2 bosses destroyed pets generally. So I might have to do a lot of running and throwing spiders to get passed those. Could be tough, but nothing wrong with a challenge so figure it is worth a try,

Please note that this is not to convince you in any way how to play your character, but merely to inform you about the character before you start (which is basically moot, since you can change your skills and runes anytime you want).

Zombie Dogs deal low damage, and die to any boss they come across. They WILL die at the first swipe from the Skeleton King, and I can only imagine bosses getting tougher beyond him, so don't expect to use them for boss fights - they just won't be alive.

Leaping Spiders deal very low damage (although slightly higher than regular spiders). They won't always go after the same target if there's multiple, but usually more than one will strike where you throw them (and the range on the thrown jar is pretty good - almost across the whole screen). From my experiences they get in about 2 hits before they die off, so you really need to spam them (although there appears to be an invisible cap on the number of spiders that can be active at any time, though you'll still keep throwing the jars).

The DPS on the basic Fire Bats skill is pretty nice, and I liked it over the Dire Bats Rune, but that's personal preference. Play around and find what you like.

You don't have Soul Harvest. This, IMHO, is a big mistake. Running into a pack of 5+ monsters and casting this nets you a HUGE bonus to Intelligence - which translates to a HUGE increase in DPS. Remember that Intelligence directly increases the Witch Doctor's damage output. This skill is incredibly useful for dealing with summoning Bosses, as well as Elites / Champions. It's just an absolutely awesome skill, and frankly I'm surprised it hasn't been nerfed yet.

Personally, I don't care much for the Witch Doctor, but I'm sure some of his later skills would better suit my style than the ones available in Beta. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with him, and there is no wrong way to play any class - that's a big part of the fun of Diablo III, not to mention you can change your play style at any time if you feel your current one just isn't working for you. Go with whatever you want, and don't be afraid to try new things. The game is fun, no matter how you slice it, and every skill has something to offer.