I am assuming that the pets will be difficult to keep alive in higher levels, so I think both damage reductions maybe necessary. I plan on stacking thorns and regen gear as well:
If the WD was able to control his pets regen would work well.
Take an example, your in Inferno with your Big Stinker and dogs, the garg takes off into the first pack of mobs that enter his aggro range. Now he is surrounded by 8-10 mobs hitting him. What do you think would get more milage, a static regen or a 20% (or 36% if had Jungle Fort which you probably will) damage reduction from each mob that is striking him? Now if you were able to control the pet, you could lay down an 8 sec AoE snare and back the pet off when he becomes low on health, and kite the mobs with the pet in tow while he regained his health enough to send him back in. That would work well, however these pets are just glorified DoT/speedbumps.
I think if someone is dead set on having thorns, I might look to drop Zombie Handler (the extra dog won't mean much if dying too fast and multi mob 16% damage reduction prolly will outweigh 20% health) esp if the mobs are hitting very hard. The game has alot of multiple encounters which I would imagine the pets will be knee deep in, and in all likelyhood they will probably need both damage reductions at higher levels. However, again no one really knows whats in store, good debate though and worth trying both methods out.
I guess it would really depend on how much the mobs hit for at higher levels. If they are killing pets quickly I would guess a 20% damage reduction (or an additional 16% if using Jungle Fort) would go further than item regen. Although I am not even sure that pets trigger Bad Medicine anyway, so it could be moot.
Thorns looks decent, however if pets are dying too fast in harder modes, (esp with a 60 sec cool off) there probably will be better options.
If pets (big stinker/rabid dogs) trigger Bad Medicine, you could always sub that in for Thorns to try to keep them upright. Who knows though at this point though, your guess is as good as anyone elses.
Like the OP I had zombies, then swapped to Soul Harvest (Siphon) in my build, but I then switched to spiders. I don't know how well the heal from Soul Harvest would work out considering you have a 15 sec cool off and it will have to be used at the start of the fight to benefit from the Int. buff. So you really have to hope you get hurt like 15 seconds into fight and not sooner, or your heal will be on cool down. I still think the buff is nice however and I want to see if an additional DoT (like spider queen) or the buff from Soul Harvest is better later on down the line. But for now I am going with:
If mana becomes an issue I would sub the 20% (handler) pet health passive for the 20% mana (attunement). 8 sec duration for the GoTD and Acid Cloud combo and pets, with the Firebomb spammer at 6 mana, so I don't think mana should be too bad with a little gear (if Blizz releases as is). If the pets do not trigger the poison for Bad Medicine, they will be adjusted as well, probably to Leeching dogs. (I am banking on they trigger it).
Being this is mostly a DoT/kite build, if the kiting becomes a problem I also would sub the Firebomb for the Dart snare. I honestly think that pets will be a speed bump at higher levels (I hope I am wrong), this is why I am planning on this type of build to be on the safe side.
Thank you OP for your detailed update. Not in beta, just trying to follow all these "adjustments" to the class I chose as my main.
Looking at Haunt (Consuming Spirit) is that 2 health return or 2%? It doesn't seem like 2 health would be that great (unless these abilities scale with level), considering the classes should have a large HP pool at higher levels. Even an ability like Leeching Beasts takes a severe hit in it's healing ability due to the lowered pet output. I just hope these abilities are tested and adjusted to scale and balance with the higher health levels.
I have read from some testers that the WD is still very strong in beta, however I think that largely has to do with the runes (3 shot dart and jumping spiders). I am more concerned with higher levels and how these changes will scale and or be effective. There are some drastic changes, which leads me to believe that maybe equipment later on might bring some of the abilities back up to prenerf levels.
Again, all this is speculation from a non tester and again thanks for the post.
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http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#aeYZiT!Zcg!acaaaY
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How can you kill something that has no life?
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Take an example, your in Inferno with your Big Stinker and dogs, the garg takes off into the first pack of mobs that enter his aggro range. Now he is surrounded by 8-10 mobs hitting him. What do you think would get more milage, a static regen or a 20% (or 36% if had Jungle Fort which you probably will) damage reduction from each mob that is striking him? Now if you were able to control the pet, you could lay down an 8 sec AoE snare and back the pet off when he becomes low on health, and kite the mobs with the pet in tow while he regained his health enough to send him back in. That would work well, however these pets are just glorified DoT/speedbumps.
I think if someone is dead set on having thorns, I might look to drop Zombie Handler (the extra dog won't mean much if dying too fast and multi mob 16% damage reduction prolly will outweigh 20% health) esp if the mobs are hitting very hard. The game has alot of multiple encounters which I would imagine the pets will be knee deep in, and in all likelyhood they will probably need both damage reductions at higher levels. However, again no one really knows whats in store, good debate though and worth trying both methods out.
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If pets (big stinker/rabid dogs) trigger Bad Medicine, you could always sub that in for Thorns to try to keep them upright. Who knows though at this point though, your guess is as good as anyone elses.
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http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#eZYbiT!adW!cZZZbY
If mana becomes an issue I would sub the 20% (handler) pet health passive for the 20% mana (attunement). 8 sec duration for the GoTD and Acid Cloud combo and pets, with the Firebomb spammer at 6 mana, so I don't think mana should be too bad with a little gear (if Blizz releases as is). If the pets do not trigger the poison for Bad Medicine, they will be adjusted as well, probably to Leeching dogs. (I am banking on they trigger it).
Being this is mostly a DoT/kite build, if the kiting becomes a problem I also would sub the Firebomb for the Dart snare. I honestly think that pets will be a speed bump at higher levels (I hope I am wrong), this is why I am planning on this type of build to be on the safe side.
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http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#eZYgdT!aYW!caccaY
Simple enough.
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Looking at Haunt (Consuming Spirit) is that 2 health return or 2%? It doesn't seem like 2 health would be that great (unless these abilities scale with level), considering the classes should have a large HP pool at higher levels. Even an ability like Leeching Beasts takes a severe hit in it's healing ability due to the lowered pet output. I just hope these abilities are tested and adjusted to scale and balance with the higher health levels.
I have read from some testers that the WD is still very strong in beta, however I think that largely has to do with the runes (3 shot dart and jumping spiders). I am more concerned with higher levels and how these changes will scale and or be effective. There are some drastic changes, which leads me to believe that maybe equipment later on might bring some of the abilities back up to prenerf levels.
Again, all this is speculation from a non tester and again thanks for the post.