I've been playing around with Witch Doctor builds all afternoon, made all kinds of crazy builds, going all out on minions, no minions at all but straight nuker etc. etc. I'm starting to really love the idea of playing this game
My "serious" build came out as this:
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...fbk!Uea!ZZZZaY
Notes:
1) I love the synergy between Rush of Essence and Haunt & Spirit Barrage. Basically free mana regen while doing plenty of damage and while runed for it, also life regen. Seeing that Haunt and Spirit Barrage use different schools of damage also means I'm not screwd for damage when facing high resistances. If I manage to stay alive well enough, I'll trade the rune from Haunt for the alabaster rune instead making it a shorter DoT for more (relative) damage.
2) Rush of Essence and the sea of mana I'll be swimming in let's me slip in another passive: Pierce the Veil for more damage while using more mana, cause more mana cost for spells I get 200% mana return on is yummy and makes my river of mana return bigger while also boosting damage by 20%. This combination of passives and actives seems almost
too powerful.
3) Big Bad Voodoo skill is almost mandatory I think. Perfect "Oh shiiii..." button when solo, and almost obligatory Witch Doctor skill when grouping. Runed for also giving damage I think this might turn into a skill every self respecting Witch Doctor will have when grouping up.
4) I took Firebomb for a good AOE ranged damage and Zombie dogs to keep stuff occupied and away from me, but I
might when situationally needed change them to other spells to fill those same roles.
5)Wall of Zombies is a slot for pure situational filling, I can put multiple things there, Wall just seems marginally more of use in general. I can see Mass Confusion, Grasp of the dead, Horrify and Fetish Army all having niche roles to play that I can slip into that slot while keeping a general build intact
Anyone, especially Witch Doctors in the making, willing to comment? I'd love feedback and ideas and maybe other builds, there is just so much possible as a Witch Doctor