I have a hardcore pet doctor with nearly 200 hours played that is farming T6 solo. I'd like to write a guide for fresh hardcore pet doctors to follow. This guide will probably be very similar to most guides you see for building up a pet doctor, but I haven't seen any that are geared specifically towards hardcore.
Plague of Toads (Rain of Toads) - Fetish generator. Use Addling Toads if you find a Rhen'ho Flayer.
Piranhas (Piranhado) - If you are playing with a group and someone else is already using a pull ability, consider changing to the Wave of Mutilation rune so that you can hit more targets, more often.
Zombie Dogs (Leeching Beasts) - This is if you have a TMF. Some people will tell you to use Lifelink. Is that 10% damage mitigation going to save you after your passive pops and you are running for your life with 150k hp? Or is your dog who is still attacking and healing you for up to 90k per attack? I would only consider changing this to Burning Dogs when you are stuck using Magefists while gambling for Taskers. If you don't have a TMF, then I would consider using Lifelink.
Gargantuan (Wrathful Protector) - Don't use any other Gargantuan. Pop this big boy out whenever you are fighting large groups of trash (8-10+) or an elite pack.
Spirit Walk (Healing Journey) - It doesn't heal for much, but Spirit Vessel will heal you to 29% instead of only 15% while using this rune.
**The last skill spot is versatile and you should swap it out depending on your needs.**
Big Bad Voodoo (Slam Dance) - This should be the goto skill for your last slot. Only swap it out if you are stuggling with damage mitigation or are grouped with other WDs that are already using it.
Horrify (Frightening Aspect) - I had to switch to this in T5-T6 until I got a Unity. With GI, you can keep the armor buff nearly the entire time while in combat.
Mass Confusion (Paranoia) - This is an offensive alternative to BBV. Use this when there are other WDs in your group who are already using BBV.
--------
****Passives****
Spirit Vessel - Obvious choice here for hardcore.
Fetish Sycophants - The entire build is focused around this passive obviously.
Grave Injustice - One of the best passives in the game. Using a Thing of the Deep increases this range to 40+ yards. Use it and abuse it. This is what allows you to use Wrathful Protector back to back.
Pierce the Veil - Obvious choice. I should mention that some people use Midnight Feast once they have a TMF, but I feel that this is a mistake.
--------
****Paragon Points****
Core - Move speed to cap > Int
Offense - IAS > CHD > CHC. Try to maintain a 1% CHC to 10% CHD ratio.
Defense - Armor or Resist All > %Life. Whichever is more toughness.
Utility - LoH > Area Dmg
--------
****Offensive Stats****
Your primary element is physical. The only exception to this is wearing Magefists while you are looking for Taskers.
Int > CHD > CHC > Attack Speed > Flat Damage. Again try to stay 1:10 ratio with CHC and CHD.
Socket the highest Int gems you can afford. Very rarely should you sacrifice trifecta stats on gloves, rings or amulet. Even going from yellows to legendaries. I used a yellow trifecta amulet on my character for 90+ hours. The orange color of an item isn't what matters, its the stats that matter.
In hardcore with this build I draw the line at those offensive stats. All other stats like CDR and +skill dmg I will reroll for toughness. This build doesn't greatly benefit from +skill dmg.
****Defensive Stats****
Vitality > %Life > Armor > All Resist
I take armor over all resist because you will already have high resist due to being an int user and the Horrify rune buffs armor by 100%. Always socket your helm with %Life.
--------
****Gambling Priorities****
1. [Mask of Jeram](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/mask-of-jeram-3OrCkW) - Witchdoctors rely on their masks to make them effective. This item alone will advance you a torment or two. Nearly all of your damage comes from your pets, and this item will boost their damage by 75-100%. This is your most powerful item.
2. [Thing of the Deep](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/thing-of-the-deep) - Pickup radius stacks on GI's initial range of 20 yards. This makes it 40 yards at minimum. The reason you gamble for this before Taskers is because Taskers has the potential to be very difficult to get. A good frog is rather easy to get in comparison to Taskers. It will last you into T4, when you will considering swapping to a Serpent for damage mitigation. Reroll the manaregen for vitality. If yours has vitality, reroll the manaregen for %life. Rerolling offhands can be a real pain so don't break the bank on this and take the first thing that's beneficial to you.
3. [Tasker and Theo](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/tasker-and-theo) - This is another one of those items that will advance you a full torment or two. With these and a MoJ, you should be farming T3-T4 easily and efficiently. Taskers always roll with IAS, so if you are lucky enough to get CHC or CHD you should reroll the vitality to make them trifecta. These gloves increase the damage of your pets by 40-50%. Always use these gloves no matter what stats they roll. While gambling for these you will probably see a few pairs of Magefists. You should use Magefists or Cain's until you find Taskers.
4. [Harrington Waistguard](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/harrington-waistguard) or [The Witching Hour](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-witching-hour) - I think Harrington's is better than Witching Hour. Harrington's works really well with pet doctors. Once you get all of your fetishes out take a second to scan the room for a clickable. More than doubling your damage for 10 seconds at a time can lead to some really fast rift clears. Some maps are covered with clickables, and then others are scarce. You'll often find them in groups of 2-3. Make sure you watch your buff and don't waste clickables, 10 seconds is longer than you think.
6. [Ice Climbers](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/ice-climbers) - At this point you are able to farm T5-T6, but its dangerous. Even with the Unity trick immobilizing effects and wallers can get you killed. These boots will reduce that risk significantly. You may go 20 runs without needing them, but eventually you will run into that double pack of elites with vortex, frozen/jailor, waller, arcane, etc. Vortex/Immobilization combo is the real killer so you have to break that combo with these boots.
--------
****Followers and their gear****
If you are playing solo this will be very important. Build your followers for utility, not damage. Damage should always be secondary to utility when it comes to your followers. Their damage is truly insignificant compared to yours. Always take their utility skills.
[Bul-Kathos's Wedding Band](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/bulkathoss-wedding-band) - Drains 0.5% of the enemies hp per tick. T6 rift bosses have roughly 3.7billion hp. That's 18.5 mil a tick. My Templar charges in, pulls all the mobs in and starts draining them with this.
[Azurewrath](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/azurewrath) - The only reason to use this weapon on a follower is the 20-25% chance to freeze on hit. Your follower will actually freeze RGs in the middle of the animations for their special abilites and it will cancel the ability.
[The Tormentor](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-tormentor) - Enchantress only. I used this a lot in lower torments because I hadn't found anything better. It has a chance to charm enemies on hit.
[Rhen'ho Flayer](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/rhenho-flayer) - This weapon is a game changer, even if it rolls with lower damage than your current weapon. Once you get this weapon make sure you switch your toads rune to Addling Toads and go up a torment. The toads will confuses everything in the room, causing enemies to stop attacking you and start attacking each other. Most people say SMK is BiS. Which I think I would have to agree with on softcore, but on hardcore I think this competes for the top spot.
[Thunderfury](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/thunderfury-blessed-blade-of-the-windseeker) - Always rolls with a socket, you'll have the chance to reroll one of the other stats for higher damage. You'll be spamming toads so the proc from this weapon does significat damage in lower torments and good CC in upper torments. It reduces the attack speed of enemies which means your fetishes will last longer.
[Doombringer](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/doombringer) - Physical damage weapon. Always rolls with the same 5 primary stats; you'll have to reroll the life per hit for a socket.
[Ice Climbers](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/ice-climbers) - Immobilizing effects will end up killing you eventually in T5-T6 without these. I prefer using Ice Climbers over Blackthorne's 4 set. Using Ice Climbers allows you to get rid of the RoRG and ground effects are easy to avoid. Its vortex comboed with frozen, waller, or jailor that will get you killed.
--------
****Progression through the Torments and what to expect****
**Fresh 70** - Look for or craft two yellow rings and a pair of gloves with 3 of the following stats so that you can reroll them into trifectas: Int, CHC, CHD, IAS. You should never have a toughness stat (vit, %life, allresist, armor) on any of your jewelery or gloves. The only exception to this is Taskers (because it doesn't matter what its stats are its fucking awesome regardless). Next look for or craft a yellow amulet with 3 of the following stats and reroll it to have all 4: Int, CHC, CHD, +Physical. If you have the plans for Aughild's and Cain's, craft Aughild's shoulders, chest, and bracers. The bracers should have +Physical and CHC. Craft Cain's boots and legs. Fill your other slots with rares with decent stats.
**T1-T3**- If you've done the above you can pretty much walk straight into T1. From here you are collecting drops and farming shards for your Jerams. Damage mitigation won't be an issue until T4+. Once you get your Jerams you'll probably spend a decent about of time in T2-T3 until you can get your hands in some Taskers.
**T4** - If you have a Jerams and Taskers, you shouldn't have any problem efficiently farming T4. 6-8 minute clears on average with some quick ones in the 5 minute range if you get lucky conduits or a big group of summoning mob types. You will notice that damage will start to get a little spiky if you are using a Thing of the Deep instead of a Uhkapian Serpent. You should have seen a several drop by now but if you don't have a nice Serpent, start gambling for one to advance to T5+. If you feel that the damage is too spiky, this is the point at which I would consider swapping BBV for Horrify with the armor rune. Frightening Aspect will significantly buff your toughness and make bad situations a lot more comfortable. (It would take me from roughly 12.5 mil toughness to 18.5 mil).
**T5-T6** - At this point you will have to use one or more of the following: Serpent, Unity, and/or Horrify to survive. All three will probably be overkill. I feel like T5 is the sweet spot for fun gameplay, atleast for me. In T5 you should be able to get by with just a Serpant and Horrify, but you'll have to stay on your toes. I normally use a Serpent and Unity in T6 and it makes me super tanky (fighting up to 4 elite packs at once). You will notice that your fetishes die off quickly. Some rift guardians will completely wipe out all of your fetishes and it will take forever to kill them. Try to use BBV, Mass Confusion or Harrington's to do as much damage to these guys as quickly as possible or you risk getting really slowed down. Don't lose your momentum against them, but sometimes its unavoidable. At this point having a geared follower is important if you are playing solo.
What do you think about grasp of The Dead as the "extra" skill, I find that Piranhado and Grasp compliment each other pretty well.
I obviously don't have any of the required gear yet, but when I do play HC i use the WD so hopefully I'll start getting some gear soon. this is what I like about this build. good gear makes it almost OP, but even with crap gear like I have its a very viable build
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I have a hardcore pet doctor with nearly 200 hours played that is farming T6 solo. I'd like to write a guide for fresh hardcore pet doctors to follow. This guide will probably be very similar to most guides you see for building up a pet doctor, but I haven't seen any that are geared specifically towards hardcore.
--------
****The Skill Build****
[The Basic Build]( http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#WlYTUQ!WTVe!bbcbcb)
Plague of Toads (Rain of Toads) - Fetish generator. Use Addling Toads if you find a Rhen'ho Flayer.
Piranhas (Piranhado) - If you are playing with a group and someone else is already using a pull ability, consider changing to the Wave of Mutilation rune so that you can hit more targets, more often.
Zombie Dogs (Leeching Beasts) - This is if you have a TMF. Some people will tell you to use Lifelink. Is that 10% damage mitigation going to save you after your passive pops and you are running for your life with 150k hp? Or is your dog who is still attacking and healing you for up to 90k per attack? I would only consider changing this to Burning Dogs when you are stuck using Magefists while gambling for Taskers. If you don't have a TMF, then I would consider using Lifelink.
Gargantuan (Wrathful Protector) - Don't use any other Gargantuan. Pop this big boy out whenever you are fighting large groups of trash (8-10+) or an elite pack.
Spirit Walk (Healing Journey) - It doesn't heal for much, but Spirit Vessel will heal you to 29% instead of only 15% while using this rune.
**The last skill spot is versatile and you should swap it out depending on your needs.**
Big Bad Voodoo (Slam Dance) - This should be the goto skill for your last slot. Only swap it out if you are stuggling with damage mitigation or are grouped with other WDs that are already using it.
Horrify (Frightening Aspect) - I had to switch to this in T5-T6 until I got a Unity. With GI, you can keep the armor buff nearly the entire time while in combat.
Mass Confusion (Paranoia) - This is an offensive alternative to BBV. Use this when there are other WDs in your group who are already using BBV.
--------
****Passives****
Spirit Vessel - Obvious choice here for hardcore.
Fetish Sycophants - The entire build is focused around this passive obviously.
Grave Injustice - One of the best passives in the game. Using a Thing of the Deep increases this range to 40+ yards. Use it and abuse it. This is what allows you to use Wrathful Protector back to back.
Pierce the Veil - Obvious choice. I should mention that some people use Midnight Feast once they have a TMF, but I feel that this is a mistake.
--------
****Paragon Points****
Core - Move speed to cap > Int
Offense - IAS > CHD > CHC. Try to maintain a 1% CHC to 10% CHD ratio.
Defense - Armor or Resist All > %Life. Whichever is more toughness.
Utility - LoH > Area Dmg
--------
****Offensive Stats****
Your primary element is physical. The only exception to this is wearing Magefists while you are looking for Taskers.
Int > CHD > CHC > Attack Speed > Flat Damage. Again try to stay 1:10 ratio with CHC and CHD.
Socket the highest Int gems you can afford. Very rarely should you sacrifice trifecta stats on gloves, rings or amulet. Even going from yellows to legendaries. I used a yellow trifecta amulet on my character for 90+ hours. The orange color of an item isn't what matters, its the stats that matter.
In hardcore with this build I draw the line at those offensive stats. All other stats like CDR and +skill dmg I will reroll for toughness. This build doesn't greatly benefit from +skill dmg.
****Defensive Stats****
Vitality > %Life > Armor > All Resist
I take armor over all resist because you will already have high resist due to being an int user and the Horrify rune buffs armor by 100%. Always socket your helm with %Life.
--------
****Gambling Priorities****
1. [Mask of Jeram](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/mask-of-jeram-3OrCkW) - Witchdoctors rely on their masks to make them effective. This item alone will advance you a torment or two. Nearly all of your damage comes from your pets, and this item will boost their damage by 75-100%. This is your most powerful item.
2. [Thing of the Deep](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/thing-of-the-deep) - Pickup radius stacks on GI's initial range of 20 yards. This makes it 40 yards at minimum. The reason you gamble for this before Taskers is because Taskers has the potential to be very difficult to get. A good frog is rather easy to get in comparison to Taskers. It will last you into T4, when you will considering swapping to a Serpent for damage mitigation. Reroll the manaregen for vitality. If yours has vitality, reroll the manaregen for %life. Rerolling offhands can be a real pain so don't break the bank on this and take the first thing that's beneficial to you.
3. [Tasker and Theo](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/tasker-and-theo) - This is another one of those items that will advance you a full torment or two. With these and a MoJ, you should be farming T3-T4 easily and efficiently. Taskers always roll with IAS, so if you are lucky enough to get CHC or CHD you should reroll the vitality to make them trifecta. These gloves increase the damage of your pets by 40-50%. Always use these gloves no matter what stats they roll. While gambling for these you will probably see a few pairs of Magefists. You should use Magefists or Cain's until you find Taskers.
4. [Harrington Waistguard](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/harrington-waistguard) or [The Witching Hour](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-witching-hour) - I think Harrington's is better than Witching Hour. Harrington's works really well with pet doctors. Once you get all of your fetishes out take a second to scan the room for a clickable. More than doubling your damage for 10 seconds at a time can lead to some really fast rift clears. Some maps are covered with clickables, and then others are scarce. You'll often find them in groups of 2-3. Make sure you watch your buff and don't waste clickables, 10 seconds is longer than you think.
5. [The Tall Man's Finger](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-tall-mans-finger) and [Stone of Jordan](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/stone-of-jordan) \ [Unity](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/unity) - At this point you should be farming T4 with ease. I really don't like gambling for items that cost more than 5 bloodshards but if you need 2 or more of the above rings its worth it.
6. [Ice Climbers](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/ice-climbers) - At this point you are able to farm T5-T6, but its dangerous. Even with the Unity trick immobilizing effects and wallers can get you killed. These boots will reduce that risk significantly. You may go 20 runs without needing them, but eventually you will run into that double pack of elites with vortex, frozen/jailor, waller, arcane, etc. Vortex/Immobilization combo is the real killer so you have to break that combo with these boots.
--------
****Followers and their gear****
If you are playing solo this will be very important. Build your followers for utility, not damage. Damage should always be secondary to utility when it comes to your followers. Their damage is truly insignificant compared to yours. Always take their utility skills.
Relics - You'll want the invulnerability relic.
[The Ess of Johan](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-ess-of-johan) - Really amazing follower amulet. My Templar charges in and pulls all the mobs in on top of him.
[Bul-Kathos's Wedding Band](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/bulkathoss-wedding-band) - Drains 0.5% of the enemies hp per tick. T6 rift bosses have roughly 3.7billion hp. That's 18.5 mil a tick. My Templar charges in, pulls all the mobs in and starts draining them with this.
[Unity](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/unity) - You'll need a 2nd Unity ring for your follower if you are going to use the Unity trick in T6.
[Azurewrath](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/azurewrath) - The only reason to use this weapon on a follower is the 20-25% chance to freeze on hit. Your follower will actually freeze RGs in the middle of the animations for their special abilites and it will cancel the ability.
[The Furnace](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-furnace) - Enchantress only. This weapon will do tons of damage to a full health RG. 7% of 3.7 bil is 259 mil damage.
[The Tormentor](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-tormentor) - Enchantress only. I used this a lot in lower torments because I hadn't found anything better. It has a chance to charm enemies on hit.
--------
****Items to look for while progressing****
[Cain's Destiny](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/artisan/blacksmith/recipe/cains-travelers) - Using the 2 piece bonus with pants and boots is common. You should also consider using trifecta Cain's gloves until you find Magefists or Taskers.
[Aughild's Authority](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/artisan/blacksmith/recipe/aughilds-search) - The shoulders and bracers are a must have.
[Rhen'ho Flayer](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/rhenho-flayer) - This weapon is a game changer, even if it rolls with lower damage than your current weapon. Once you get this weapon make sure you switch your toads rune to Addling Toads and go up a torment. The toads will confuses everything in the room, causing enemies to stop attacking you and start attacking each other. Most people say SMK is BiS. Which I think I would have to agree with on softcore, but on hardcore I think this competes for the top spot.
[Starmetal Kukri](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/starmetal-kukri) - Rarest WD weapon in the game. Use BBV in every fight if you find this bad boy.
[Thunderfury](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/thunderfury-blessed-blade-of-the-windseeker) - Always rolls with a socket, you'll have the chance to reroll one of the other stats for higher damage. You'll be spamming toads so the proc from this weapon does significat damage in lower torments and good CC in upper torments. It reduces the attack speed of enemies which means your fetishes will last longer.
[Doombringer](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/doombringer) - Physical damage weapon. Always rolls with the same 5 primary stats; you'll have to reroll the life per hit for a socket.
[Thing of the Deep](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/thing-of-the-deep) - You'll gamble for one of these early. But if you find one before then great!
[Uhkapian Serpent](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/uhkapian-serpent) - You'll need one of these for T4-T5+.
[The Tall Man's Finger](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-tall-mans-finger) - BiS ring. Gives you the big dog with the big damage, and gives your fetishes more room. Win, win.
[Stone of Jordan](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/stone-of-jordan) - Everyone wants one of these. You'll use this and TMF if you aren't using the Unity trick.
[Unity](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/unity) - Needed for the Unity trick for T5+. Has decent stats too.
[Ring of Royal Grandeur](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/ring-of-royal-grandeur-3qRFop) - You'll only need this if you plan on using Blackthorne's and getting the 4-piece set bonus. Not required.
[Ice Climbers](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/ice-climbers) - Immobilizing effects will end up killing you eventually in T5-T6 without these. I prefer using Ice Climbers over Blackthorne's 4 set. Using Ice Climbers allows you to get rid of the RoRG and ground effects are easy to avoid. Its vortex comboed with frozen, waller, or jailor that will get you killed.
Blackthorne's - Look for [Blackthorne's Chest](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/blackthornes-surcoat), [Blackthorne's Pants](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/blackthornes-jousting-mail), and [Blackthorne's Boots](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/blackthornes-spurs). You may want the option of using 4 piece with a RoRG.
--------
****Progression through the Torments and what to expect****
**Fresh 70** - Look for or craft two yellow rings and a pair of gloves with 3 of the following stats so that you can reroll them into trifectas: Int, CHC, CHD, IAS. You should never have a toughness stat (vit, %life, allresist, armor) on any of your jewelery or gloves. The only exception to this is Taskers (because it doesn't matter what its stats are its fucking awesome regardless). Next look for or craft a yellow amulet with 3 of the following stats and reroll it to have all 4: Int, CHC, CHD, +Physical. If you have the plans for Aughild's and Cain's, craft Aughild's shoulders, chest, and bracers. The bracers should have +Physical and CHC. Craft Cain's boots and legs. Fill your other slots with rares with decent stats.
**T1-T3**- If you've done the above you can pretty much walk straight into T1. From here you are collecting drops and farming shards for your Jerams. Damage mitigation won't be an issue until T4+. Once you get your Jerams you'll probably spend a decent about of time in T2-T3 until you can get your hands in some Taskers.
**T4** - If you have a Jerams and Taskers, you shouldn't have any problem efficiently farming T4. 6-8 minute clears on average with some quick ones in the 5 minute range if you get lucky conduits or a big group of summoning mob types. You will notice that damage will start to get a little spiky if you are using a Thing of the Deep instead of a Uhkapian Serpent. You should have seen a several drop by now but if you don't have a nice Serpent, start gambling for one to advance to T5+. If you feel that the damage is too spiky, this is the point at which I would consider swapping BBV for Horrify with the armor rune. Frightening Aspect will significantly buff your toughness and make bad situations a lot more comfortable. (It would take me from roughly 12.5 mil toughness to 18.5 mil).
**T5-T6** - At this point you will have to use one or more of the following: Serpent, Unity, and/or Horrify to survive. All three will probably be overkill. I feel like T5 is the sweet spot for fun gameplay, atleast for me. In T5 you should be able to get by with just a Serpant and Horrify, but you'll have to stay on your toes. I normally use a Serpent and Unity in T6 and it makes me super tanky (fighting up to 4 elite packs at once). You will notice that your fetishes die off quickly. Some rift guardians will completely wipe out all of your fetishes and it will take forever to kill them. Try to use BBV, Mass Confusion or Harrington's to do as much damage to these guys as quickly as possible or you risk getting really slowed down. Don't lose your momentum against them, but sometimes its unavoidable. At this point having a geared follower is important if you are playing solo.
I'm using almost the exact build on my HC WD (which i just got to 70 a few days ago)
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Undrtaker-1634/hero/24454152
What do you think about grasp of The Dead as the "extra" skill, I find that Piranhado and Grasp compliment each other pretty well.
I obviously don't have any of the required gear yet, but when I do play HC i use the WD so hopefully I'll start getting some gear soon. this is what I like about this build. good gear makes it almost OP, but even with crap gear like I have its a very viable build
And there is only one thing we say to Death. Not today.