I have struggled a lot with my witch doctor in inferno. It took a few weeks to even be able to farm A1 comfortably. I work 30 hours a week and am an engineering student and also have a girlfriend, so needless to say my gaming time is limited. This means my wealth has been very limited since RNG hates me and I've found nothing worth selling more than 400k. But I love to game and I persisted with the WD and have finally found a spec and gear setup that works for me. I am now able to solo all of A3, and spent no more than 4 mil on my gear. Here's the skill setup (since I cannot post URLs, I'll give it manually):
Firebomb - Flash Fire
Acid Cloud - Acid Rain
Horrify - Face of Death
Summon Zombie Dogs - Burning Dogs
Gargantuan - Humongoid
Spirit Walk - Jaunt
Spirit Vessel
Jungle Fortitude
Pierce the Veil
Survivability with this build is very high and aoe damage is extremely good. Single target, not so much, but bosses are really the only time single target damage is needed or worthwhile so it's kind of far down the list below killing elite packs and not dying. The gargantuan stays alive almost all the time, and the dogs rarely die before their cooldown is up. It'd be nice to have them stay alive all the time, but it's just an annoyance, not a hinderance. Acid rain is arguably the best aoe in the game, and firebomb–flashfire is also excellent "smart" aoe. Using spirit vessel makes horrify and spirit walk even better, and jaunt means that you are only without spirit walk for 9 seconds. That combined with horrify and the pets means you should almost never be getting hit.
In terms of gearing, like I said, I spent not that much on my gear. I got a little lucky on my weapon which was purchased for 400k, but other than that nothing too special.
This build I believe is dependent on 700ish LoH and 20ish +mana regen so that is what I would shoot for. I have about 600 AR, 3700 armor, and 20,000 life. My crit is not good (24.5%) and my crit damage is not good (145%). It still works. I am super excited to see how this build will do with good gear.
If you're poor and struggling in A2 or A3, try this build! I promise you will not regret it.
One sidenote: I can almost never kill treasure goblins due to poor single target DPS and the nature of my skills. Oh well.
Oh, also, Acid Rain has a really good LoH coefficient, so i usually try dumping a bucket or few to fill up my life bar first, before resorting to a potion, haunt, or spirit walk; it usually works.
Nice guide. Only problem I have with your tips is the HP. 20k is way too low if you're not using Bears with high dps to just not need any.
When I first started Inferno with my WD I also lacked the cash to own everything. I did things a little differently: Firebomb/Roll the Bones, GotD/Death is Life, LS/Pestilence, SW/Healing Journey, dogs and garg. Jungle Fortitude, PtV and Zombie Handler.
This basically gave me lots of survivability, with decent AoE damage and weak single target. This, coupled with my HP/regen focused gear, made me finish the whole game in under 40 hours of game time.
Firebomb - Flash Fire
Acid Cloud - Acid Rain
Horrify - Face of Death
Summon Zombie Dogs - Burning Dogs
Gargantuan - Humongoid
Spirit Walk - Jaunt
Spirit Vessel
Jungle Fortitude
Pierce the Veil
Survivability with this build is very high and aoe damage is extremely good. Single target, not so much, but bosses are really the only time single target damage is needed or worthwhile so it's kind of far down the list below killing elite packs and not dying. The gargantuan stays alive almost all the time, and the dogs rarely die before their cooldown is up. It'd be nice to have them stay alive all the time, but it's just an annoyance, not a hinderance. Acid rain is arguably the best aoe in the game, and firebomb–flashfire is also excellent "smart" aoe. Using spirit vessel makes horrify and spirit walk even better, and jaunt means that you are only without spirit walk for 9 seconds. That combined with horrify and the pets means you should almost never be getting hit.
In terms of gearing, like I said, I spent not that much on my gear. I got a little lucky on my weapon which was purchased for 400k, but other than that nothing too special.
This build I believe is dependent on 700ish LoH and 20ish +mana regen so that is what I would shoot for. I have about 600 AR, 3700 armor, and 20,000 life. My crit is not good (24.5%) and my crit damage is not good (145%). It still works. I am super excited to see how this build will do with good gear.
If you're poor and struggling in A2 or A3, try this build! I promise you will not regret it.
One sidenote: I can almost never kill treasure goblins due to poor single target DPS and the nature of my skills. Oh well.
Oh, also, Acid Rain has a really good LoH coefficient, so i usually try dumping a bucket or few to fill up my life bar first, before resorting to a potion, haunt, or spirit walk; it usually works.
When I first started Inferno with my WD I also lacked the cash to own everything. I did things a little differently: Firebomb/Roll the Bones, GotD/Death is Life, LS/Pestilence, SW/Healing Journey, dogs and garg. Jungle Fortitude, PtV and Zombie Handler.
This basically gave me lots of survivability, with decent AoE damage and weak single target. This, coupled with my HP/regen focused gear, made me finish the whole game in under 40 hours of game time.