Just switched back to WD to try out the new patch and got ahttp://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/quetzalcoatlin the first rift. So now i'm running a hybrid between dots and pets, but even though it is fun, it feels a little sub-optimal.
Constant running, never standing still. Gets to break every vase and open every chest, without slower killing.
Zero mana issues.
Cons:
Pets are not really utilized properly.
Can't really find a way to work sycophants into the build, since i'm barely doing anything but dotting and running.
Too offensive, often getting caught in front of my pets.
Any ideas how the build could be improved? Running 50% crit, 400% CMD, but otherwise very standard stats. Could use some gear recommendations for dot-builds as well. Plenty of legendary loot for a pet build, but struggling to find something more dot-focused I can spend my blood shards on.
my advice is stick to one or the other. I play hc dots and I use quetzacoatl and hwoj wrap belt. Basically so the swarm is a huge debuff with bad medicine and the movement slow from the belt. If you're going to go dots, then use piranhas. And if u want pets then take off the creeping death for fetishes, but it really all depends on the gear you find. I've switched up a few times... Just found more dot gear so Im on that now.
Spirit Barrage-Well of Souls for direct damage as needed.
Haunt-Consuming Spirit for Regen
Locust Swarm-Searing Locust to increase DoT damage (spread rate is fast anyway with Piranhado, see below)
Piranhas-Piranhado for grouping mobs for Locust Swarm and Spirit Barrage Combo + permanent damage debuff to mobs
Zombie Dogs-Burning Dogs for extra DoT damage to mobs (with Midnight Feast this is 30% per second x 4 dogs = 120% weapon damage per second AoE on top of regular hits for 18% damage each)
Rush of Essence so Haunt returns mana (costs 50, returns 100), which you'll need to chain cast Piranhado, and so you can infinite cast Spirit Barrage.
Grave Injustice for CD reduction to Spirit Walk and Piranhado
Key Stats:
All dps stats work well, but should have a lot of Area Damage (I run with 50-60%) so Spirit Barrage (and presumably Locust Swarm/Burning Dogs but I haven't tested) burn groups faster.
Playstyle:
On small spread out groups, use either Haunt or Spirit Barrage (Haunt for high hp mobs, SB for low hp mobs so Well of Souls extra spirits mops them up)
On large groups: Piranhado to group up mobs, Locust Swarm while mobs are stunned, Spirit Barrage to burn down faster if necessary. The high mob density caused by Piranhado makes Locust Swarm spread very quickly, and the spell stuns. As mobs die, the cooldown drops quick so you can chain stun large groups.
On elite packs: Piranado+Locust Swarm to get the debuff/dot up fast on all mobs, then individually Haunt each one to get massive regen ticking. While the high regen is ticking, you can get away with not moving out of things so you can spam Spirit Barrage until all the elites die.
On bosses: Sameas above really but you don't get the high regen from multiple haunts, but you'll burn fast with SB spam on a single target. Tends to even out.
It has worked really really well for me so far but I'm still a 1-2 day old 70. Will update once I manage to gear up for T1/2, but based on my experience my guess is this build scales really well, as you're able to deliver tons of dps while avoiding a lot of damage simultaneously. Its big disadvantage is for group play where you overgear the difficulty since it lacks instant AoE damage. But this can be adapted easily by switching out Spirit Barrage or Locust Swarm for Acid Cloud-Acid Rain.
The build:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#eSUhTY!WeRS!ZcaaZc
Pros:
Constant running, never standing still. Gets to break every vase and open every chest, without slower killing.
Zero mana issues.
Cons:
Pets are not really utilized properly.
Can't really find a way to work sycophants into the build, since i'm barely doing anything but dotting and running.
Too offensive, often getting caught in front of my pets.
Any ideas how the build could be improved? Running 50% crit, 400% CMD, but otherwise very standard stats. Could use some gear recommendations for dot-builds as well. Plenty of legendary loot for a pet build, but struggling to find something more dot-focused I can spend my blood shards on.
my advice is stick to one or the other. I play hc dots and I use quetzacoatl and hwoj wrap belt. Basically so the swarm is a huge debuff with bad medicine and the movement slow from the belt. If you're going to go dots, then use piranhas. And if u want pets then take off the creeping death for fetishes, but it really all depends on the gear you find. I've switched up a few times... Just found more dot gear so Im on that now.http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#egUhlY!fTRS!aZacbY
Key differences from OPs build: