I think pierce is really crappy unless you have an odd build that relies on one of the primary skills for the main source of damage.
I disagree, I think with the right build and perhaps supplementary items you could get some use out of it.
Sacrifice - Pride for instance can restore your entire mana bar np.
Vision quest would seem to yield and absurd amount of mana if you can keep 4 skills on CD. (especially if it includes mana regen affixes, which are listed as +14 man atm.)
There is also a Hit mana = 12.
Max Mana of +150
The health gained by blood ritual is at lest partially consumed by the health loss component. Its really only worth looking at the 15% mana reduction imo.
True... I guess I didn't fully state my thoughts there, lol. It's only good if you're mana capped (have more mana than you can spend).
You'll be spending 30% more mana if you use pierce which means you will cast 30% less spells but the spells will do 20% more damage. Seems like a crappy deal to me... at the cost of one of your passive slots even.
There is of course, the benefit of doing more upfront damage. If you want to have a burst damage build, pierce is for you. However, realize that you will be giving up a lot of long term dps. It's a bit of a trap passive imo. It sounds good at first look but if you sit down and think about the tradeoffs... it's really not worth it unless your build is made with it in mind (no mana skills, low mana skills).
It's easy enough to check if you have the beta. I believe the mouse over graphic for int tells you how much it increases damage by. I know I looked at this the past weekend and I'm pretty sure when I had Soul Harvest up (which makes my int above 100) it was still a 1:1 ratio. I'm not 100% sure though, I might be mis-remembering.
//edit: Tried it over lunch. It still adds 1% damage after 100 int. I'm not sure where you got that info from.
GREAT Suggestions! You're right about the Zdogs. They were just kind of thrown in and don't add to the rest of the build. Got a question on spirit walk. Does it leave behind a physical body that can still take a beating? You're right too about the vampire bat healing being negligible. I may play around with launching dire bats from afar or plague/hungry bats. Spirit walk is a great addition, since that will replenish 30% of the mana and get out of trouble! Good call with Pierce the Veil too, since this build has fast mana/low casting cost so it can afford the 30% mana premium to do 20% more damage. At level 30, I'll pick up the Spirit Vessel passive, which will help me cast Spirit Walk and Soul Harvest more often.
I couldn't disagree any more with this statement. You do realize that Zdogs was the cornerstone of your build? You ABSOLUTELY NEED the zombie dogs in there if you plan on playing like you described. You can't have a million monsters banging on you while you channel spells that hurt you. You need the dogs + garg to distract enemies and keep them off of you so that you can continue to spam firebats without dying.
I'm not sure why you'd want grasp (beyond the extra damage) since you'll always be in melee range doing firebats. You won't be kiting. Haunt makes this build awesome though. Haunt a few enemies and then start spamming firebats... the heals from haunt should keep you alive.
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True... I guess I didn't fully state my thoughts there, lol. It's only good if you're mana capped (have more mana than you can spend).
You'll be spending 30% more mana if you use pierce which means you will cast 30% less spells but the spells will do 20% more damage. Seems like a crappy deal to me... at the cost of one of your passive slots even.
There is of course, the benefit of doing more upfront damage. If you want to have a burst damage build, pierce is for you. However, realize that you will be giving up a lot of long term dps. It's a bit of a trap passive imo. It sounds good at first look but if you sit down and think about the tradeoffs... it's really not worth it unless your build is made with it in mind (no mana skills, low mana skills).
//edit: Tried it over lunch. It still adds 1% damage after 100 int. I'm not sure where you got that info from.
I couldn't disagree any more with this statement. You do realize that Zdogs was the cornerstone of your build? You ABSOLUTELY NEED the zombie dogs in there if you plan on playing like you described. You can't have a million monsters banging on you while you channel spells that hurt you. You need the dogs + garg to distract enemies and keep them off of you so that you can continue to spam firebats without dying.
I made it better though http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#acYdeT!ZX!aZaZaa
I'm not sure why you'd want grasp (beyond the extra damage) since you'll always be in melee range doing firebats. You won't be kiting. Haunt makes this build awesome though. Haunt a few enemies and then start spamming firebats... the heals from haunt should keep you alive.