I initially made a build, called "Give a Dog a Bone," that was somewhat similar to this one, but with passives including Circle of Life and Zombie Handler, and actives including the Zombie Dogs variant, Leeching Beasts (lifeleech). The purpose was to keep the Doctor's dogs and gargantuan survivable, so they could continue to deal damage and tank for him for extended periods of time, and so he would not have to summon them often to save him mana for his own damaging abilities. I refused to blow up his doggies with Sacrifice.
I changed the build so it was more focused around the Doctor's small creatures than his dogs:
The Vermin passive puts a sting on his bats for enemies closeby, and on his locusts for those far away; while they both eat up mana fast, the good doctor has ways of getting it back. Spirit Walk with Honored Guest regains 30% of his total mana while walking out of or into battle fast. Mass Confusion disables a large area of enemies, and its Devolution skill rune is this Witch Doctor's sole source of Zombie Dog spawns, so he should take out as many enemies as he can with locusts during the 12 seconds of enemy paranoia that Mass Confusion provides. Wall of Zombies, modified to Pile On, provides a focused and large amount of damage with which to combat and knock back fatties.
The Gargantuan, modified to Restless Giant, beefs up against elite enemies.
The Fierce Loyalty passive does what it says: it gives the dogs and Gargantuan the thorny and health-regenerative properties possessed by the Witch Doctor.
With every enemy killed closeby, Grave Injustice regains health, regains mana, and reduces the cooldown of Spirit Walk, Wall of Zombies, and Gargantuan summons, which is why I opted for a short-ranged version of Firebats. This concept is the heart of the build, hence the Yosemite Sam-quoted name, Lily-Livered Varmint, as the 'Doc must get up-close and personal with his small creatures to benefit all his other abilities.
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Class: Witch Doctor
Type: PvE
Build name: Lily-Livered Varmint
Actives:
Firebats > Vampire Bats (conal AoE damage, lifeleech)
Locust Swarm > Searing Locusts (target AoE damage)
Spirit Walk > Honored Guest (movement speed, stealth, mana regen)
Mass Confusion > Devolution (disable, dog spawns)
Wall of Zombies > Pile On (focused target damage, knockback)
Gargantuan > Restless Giant (summon)
Passives:
Vermin (bonus creature damage)
Fierce Loyalty (summonee reflection damage, summonee health regen)
Grave Injustice (health and mana regen, cooldown reduction)
I initially made a build, called "Give a Dog a Bone," that was somewhat similar to this one, but with passives including Circle of Life and Zombie Handler, and actives including the Zombie Dogs variant, Leeching Beasts (lifeleech). The purpose was to keep the Doctor's dogs and gargantuan survivable, so they could continue to deal damage and tank for him for extended periods of time, and so he would not have to summon them often to save him mana for his own damaging abilities. I refused to blow up his doggies with Sacrifice.
I changed the build so it was more focused around the Doctor's small creatures than his dogs:
The Vermin passive puts a sting on his bats for enemies closeby, and on his locusts for those far away; while they both eat up mana fast, the good doctor has ways of getting it back.
Spirit Walk with Honored Guest regains 30% of his total mana while walking out of or into battle fast.
Mass Confusion disables a large area of enemies, and its Devolution skill rune is this Witch Doctor's sole source of Zombie Dog spawns, so he should take out as many enemies as he can with locusts during the 12 seconds of enemy paranoia that Mass Confusion provides.
Wall of Zombies, modified to Pile On, provides a focused and large amount of damage with which to combat and knock back fatties.
The Gargantuan, modified to Restless Giant, beefs up against elite enemies.
The Fierce Loyalty passive does what it says: it gives the dogs and Gargantuan the thorny and health-regenerative properties possessed by the Witch Doctor.
With every enemy killed closeby, Grave Injustice regains health, regains mana, and reduces the cooldown of Spirit Walk, Wall of Zombies, and Gargantuan summons, which is why I opted for a short-ranged version of Firebats. This concept is the heart of the build, hence the Yosemite Sam-quoted name, Lily-Livered Varmint, as the 'Doc must get up-close and personal with his small creatures to benefit all his other abilities.