Correct. This is why I do not pick up Zombie Handler.
While you will lose an extra dog from the initial Summon Zombie Dogs, after that, it wont matter as long as you spam sacrifice during combat not allowing to cap yourself.
So I figure its better to take advantage of another passive
I was taking your WD review seriously until you said Grasp of the Dead was just an average spell. lol?
Looks like you went into the WD with low expectations, and are now grasping at straws to keep it that way.
It takes a few ticks to kill the targets in the area of effect where most skills one-shot things. I was simply looking ahead to when mobs have more life in later difficulties and seeing that it will be more useful for the snare than the damage. This with the cool-down is where my "average damage" comment came from. I could be completely wrong!
In the beta it's fairly useful as a barrel-buster and one more damage type to stack on crowds while throwing spider jars and other things.
Thanks for all the feedback! When I have more time I'll try to be a bigger part of the conversation. Really looking forward to reading Kankle's post.
Well its not like once you cast it you're unable to do anything else. You cast it on a group and go to town with your other spells. Its a snare with added damage and the CD is very short, by the time it wears off its almost ready to be cast again. Caltrops doesn't do damage does it? In fact it's 1 of only a few skills in the game that does AoE snare + damage. It's amazing and so is it's damage.
I was taking your WD review seriously until you said Grasp of the Dead was just an average spell.
Looks like you went into the WD with low expectations, and are now grasping at straws to keep it that way.
Grasp of the Dead is probably my favorite WD spell at the moment. It's like an AOE DoT that ticks pretty damn hard. I'd say on my WD it does about 70% of the killing during trash and I use it as a suplimental DoT on SK.
Yup its powerful. An AoE dot that slows as well and can be placed anywhere on the screen? Yes please.
Ya before I got into Beta I thought for sure that Monk would be my main class, and while I still enjoy it, it feels a bit too boring.
This is only with level 13 though, and this could all change with the full spectrum of abilities available and better gear (faster weapons), but the 3 punch combo's seem too slow, same goes for the spirit generation.
Also using a mix of spirit generators feels too clunky. You can't spam click because there's a tiny delay on the click registration, resulting in x-x-x punch combo's rather than x-x-y that I'm trying for. Or I'll have to do x-y-y just to be safe. Not sure if anyone else has noticed this issue at all.
I've never been a huge fan of having minions or pets do the fun stuff for me. The Necro from D2 I ended up making, was only a Corpse Explosion + Poison Nova build, I avoided minions as much as I could.
And while I enjoyed my Necro, it wasn't my favorite because I felt like I was forced to choose that build and was unable to explore other options.
I had labelled the Witch Doctor as D2's Necro and was expecting a much more minion oriented play style, and had all but decided I'd probably end up leveling it up last.
After playing all the classes to max level and beyond, I'm finding myself wanting to play my Witch Doctor more and more, it's just so damn fun.
While there are the Zombie Dogs that's pretty much all there is for minions, the rest of the abilities are either temporary that they require multiple casts, or they're just good ol' spells. I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm actually casting the ability that it feels a lot better than just having them up all the time. Seems small but it makes a difference to me.
Firebats is such a sick spell. And the different Rune effects I've seen just make it one of favorite abilities I've seen so far (early I know).
Lobbing Firebombs up or down levels is really satisfying.
Corpse Spiders just devour "bosses" when you just throw out as many as you can before they become attackable.
Grasp of the Dead is really powerful as well, can be placed exactly where you want, slows and does damage? Yes please.
So that's my little rant, how about you? Whats your choice?
For the amount you describe your build, you don't really put a lot of thought into it.
Why would you put a Golden into Furious Charge to generate more fury when you have no real fury dump? Your only fury dump is Battle Rage, a shout that lasts 30secs. So for 30secs you have nothing to spend fury on, yet you rune for even more fury generation?
You're also lacking on survivability. While it's decent, I don't think it will be enough for hell and beyond.
Frenzy with Crimson. Obsidian is another good choice depending on what you choose for the rest of your abilities.
War Cry with Alabaster. Helps with survivability and adds healing. Depending on how the fury generation is with basically only Frenzy, a Golden would be a good alternative.
Sprint with Alabaster. With a frenzy build i'm big on Attack speed and movement speed, because I have crimson in Frenzy, I have to have this. Alabaster allows me to get to those pesky ranged units when I need to as well, since I'm lacking Leap or Charge.
HotA with Alabaster. My fury dump. I have no CC in this build at all, so Alabaster gives me a much needed stun.
Revenge with Indigo. Big survivability. The indigo will make this thing go off very frequently.
WotB with Golden. The big DPS cooldown. Golden keeps this up for more time. Pop War Cry for an instant 3secs + all the Frenzy attacks.
Bloodthirst. Gotta have life leech as a barb, if this is available on items, this is replaceable.
Boon. Reduce CD of WotB? Yes please.
Brawler. Barb is always in the thick of it, so it should be up at all times.
Exalted Soul - You're right this probably won't be needed, especially if there's +spirit leech of any kind. I just thought being able to spam those extra Lash Kicks would really be very strong.
CW - I guess we'll have to wait and see if it affects the targets or not. I was assuming so since it didn't specifically say the third hit like they do with all the others. It would be too bad if it didn't work!
Crimsons - Ya lots of Crimsons, but this is an ideal setup
Crimson in LTK - My main reasoning for choosing this was the fact that it appears to be a 360 degree of attack, while Obsidian is just a cone. And while i'm not a fan of knockback, having the Dash ability to close the gaps will help remove the annoyance.
Serenity - I'm pretty stuck on having this in the build, especially once you reach hell and beyond, I really do think it will be invaluable. And I like the heal, since you'll only use it if you're about to die anyways.
This build will provide massive amounts of +% DMG to all attacks, while focusing on Lashing Tail
Crippling Wave: The first 2 attacks will be used to apply the Alabaster +DMG modifier to your targets, if you're surrounded I hope this can manage to be applied to 180 degrees for each strike so all mobs surrounding you have it.
Deadly Reach: The 3rd attack will be used at least 3 times for the Crimson +DMG modifier to stack to 30%. After the buff is acquired, you can switch to using the Crippling Wave 3rd strike. Then just reapply after 17 secs (your next encounter)
Lashing Tail Strike: This will be your bread and butter. With a Crimson this will do massive amounts of damage when coupled with all the +DMG modifiers you have stacked up. This appears to be a 360 degree ability and will keep you safe with the knockback.
Dashing Strike: I'm usually not a fan of knockback abilities, especially in D2. But with Dashing Strike you'll be able to get right back onto your next target no problem. Add a Golden runestone and Spirit isn't an issue.
Serenity: This build lacks any sort of utility or self preservation. This is your "Oh Shit" button. Add in a Crimson for it to heal, and you have a 3 sec invulnerability window to Dash your way to safety, if the heal isn't enough.
Mantra of Conviction: This build wouldn't be complete with out it. Add in another Crimson for a massive +DMG boost and when it's all said and done we have a Huge +185% DMG to all attacks, especially the 312% weapon damage Vulture Claw Kick.
Transcendence: I'm torn between this and Chant of Resonance, but the constant passive healing will be really nice, especially for this build.
Exalted Soul: I'm putting this one here for now, but I think once you hit nightmare and above One With Everything will be too good to pass up.
Beacon Of Ytar:: The cherry on top for this build. Removes the cooldown for your Lashing Kick, allowing you to Kick > Dash > Kick until your spirit runs out or your enemies are dead.
Well the only thing we're able to actually see and use is the front end UI, and it doesn't look very complete to me.
Functional yes, but it appears that there's a lot more work to be done, at least in that department. Overlays appear to be just thrown together quickly, with limited options and lots of bugs just from the few moments I spent looking around.
If that gives any indication as to how "complete" the game is, then there's still a lot to be done.
0
While you will lose an extra dog from the initial Summon Zombie Dogs, after that, it wont matter as long as you spam sacrifice during combat not allowing to cap yourself.
So I figure its better to take advantage of another passive
0
Well its not like once you cast it you're unable to do anything else. You cast it on a group and go to town with your other spells. Its a snare with added damage and the CD is very short, by the time it wears off its almost ready to be cast again. Caltrops doesn't do damage does it? In fact it's 1 of only a few skills in the game that does AoE snare + damage. It's amazing and so is it's damage.
0
Yup its powerful. An AoE dot that slows as well and can be placed anywhere on the screen? Yes please.
0
Looks like you went into the WD with low expectations, and are now grasping at straws to keep it that way.
0
0
40% damage mitigation with hard hitting close combat spells. Looks fun
0
Every talent to spawn zombie dogs, then sacrifice away as they spawn
0
This is only with level 13 though, and this could all change with the full spectrum of abilities available and better gear (faster weapons), but the 3 punch combo's seem too slow, same goes for the spirit generation.
Also using a mix of spirit generators feels too clunky. You can't spam click because there's a tiny delay on the click registration, resulting in x-x-x punch combo's rather than x-x-y that I'm trying for. Or I'll have to do x-y-y just to be safe. Not sure if anyone else has noticed this issue at all.
0
I've never been a huge fan of having minions or pets do the fun stuff for me. The Necro from D2 I ended up making, was only a Corpse Explosion + Poison Nova build, I avoided minions as much as I could.
And while I enjoyed my Necro, it wasn't my favorite because I felt like I was forced to choose that build and was unable to explore other options.
I had labelled the Witch Doctor as D2's Necro and was expecting a much more minion oriented play style, and had all but decided I'd probably end up leveling it up last.
After playing all the classes to max level and beyond, I'm finding myself wanting to play my Witch Doctor more and more, it's just so damn fun.
While there are the Zombie Dogs that's pretty much all there is for minions, the rest of the abilities are either temporary that they require multiple casts, or they're just good ol' spells. I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm actually casting the ability that it feels a lot better than just having them up all the time. Seems small but it makes a difference to me.
Firebats is such a sick spell. And the different Rune effects I've seen just make it one of favorite abilities I've seen so far (early I know).
Lobbing Firebombs up or down levels is really satisfying.
Corpse Spiders just devour "bosses" when you just throw out as many as you can before they become attackable.
Grasp of the Dead is really powerful as well, can be placed exactly where you want, slows and does damage? Yes please.
So that's my little rant, how about you? Whats your choice?
0
Why would you put a Golden into Furious Charge to generate more fury when you have no real fury dump? Your only fury dump is Battle Rage, a shout that lasts 30secs. So for 30secs you have nothing to spend fury on, yet you rune for even more fury generation?
You're also lacking on survivability. While it's decent, I don't think it will be enough for hell and beyond.
Here's my Frenzy build http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#fgjZUP!aTU!ZaaaYb
Frenzy with Crimson. Obsidian is another good choice depending on what you choose for the rest of your abilities.
War Cry with Alabaster. Helps with survivability and adds healing. Depending on how the fury generation is with basically only Frenzy, a Golden would be a good alternative.
Sprint with Alabaster. With a frenzy build i'm big on Attack speed and movement speed, because I have crimson in Frenzy, I have to have this. Alabaster allows me to get to those pesky ranged units when I need to as well, since I'm lacking Leap or Charge.
HotA with Alabaster. My fury dump. I have no CC in this build at all, so Alabaster gives me a much needed stun.
Revenge with Indigo. Big survivability. The indigo will make this thing go off very frequently.
WotB with Golden. The big DPS cooldown. Golden keeps this up for more time. Pop War Cry for an instant 3secs + all the Frenzy attacks.
Bloodthirst. Gotta have life leech as a barb, if this is available on items, this is replaceable.
Boon. Reduce CD of WotB? Yes please.
Brawler. Barb is always in the thick of it, so it should be up at all times.
0
you have 0 survivability
0
Exalted Soul - You're right this probably won't be needed, especially if there's +spirit leech of any kind. I just thought being able to spam those extra Lash Kicks would really be very strong.
CW - I guess we'll have to wait and see if it affects the targets or not. I was assuming so since it didn't specifically say the third hit like they do with all the others. It would be too bad if it didn't work!
Crimsons - Ya lots of Crimsons, but this is an ideal setup
Crimson in LTK - My main reasoning for choosing this was the fact that it appears to be a 360 degree of attack, while Obsidian is just a cone. And while i'm not a fan of knockback, having the Dash ability to close the gaps will help remove the annoyance.
Serenity - I'm pretty stuck on having this in the build, especially once you reach hell and beyond, I really do think it will be invaluable. And I like the heal, since you'll only use it if you're about to die anyways.
Glad you liked it though
0
This build will provide massive amounts of +% DMG to all attacks, while focusing on Lashing Tail
Crippling Wave: The first 2 attacks will be used to apply the Alabaster +DMG modifier to your targets, if you're surrounded I hope this can manage to be applied to 180 degrees for each strike so all mobs surrounding you have it.
Deadly Reach: The 3rd attack will be used at least 3 times for the Crimson +DMG modifier to stack to 30%. After the buff is acquired, you can switch to using the Crippling Wave 3rd strike. Then just reapply after 17 secs (your next encounter)
Lashing Tail Strike: This will be your bread and butter. With a Crimson this will do massive amounts of damage when coupled with all the +DMG modifiers you have stacked up. This appears to be a 360 degree ability and will keep you safe with the knockback.
Dashing Strike: I'm usually not a fan of knockback abilities, especially in D2. But with Dashing Strike you'll be able to get right back onto your next target no problem. Add a Golden runestone and Spirit isn't an issue.
Serenity: This build lacks any sort of utility or self preservation. This is your "Oh Shit" button. Add in a Crimson for it to heal, and you have a 3 sec invulnerability window to Dash your way to safety, if the heal isn't enough.
Mantra of Conviction: This build wouldn't be complete with out it. Add in another Crimson for a massive +DMG boost and when it's all said and done we have a Huge +185% DMG to all attacks, especially the 312% weapon damage Vulture Claw Kick.
Transcendence: I'm torn between this and Chant of Resonance, but the constant passive healing will be really nice, especially for this build.
Exalted Soul: I'm putting this one here for now, but I think once you hit nightmare and above One With Everything will be too good to pass up.
Beacon Of Ytar:: The cherry on top for this build. Removes the cooldown for your Lashing Kick, allowing you to Kick > Dash > Kick until your spirit runs out or your enemies are dead.
0
Functional yes, but it appears that there's a lot more work to be done, at least in that department. Overlays appear to be just thrown together quickly, with limited options and lots of bugs just from the few moments I spent looking around.
If that gives any indication as to how "complete" the game is, then there's still a lot to be done.
0