Diablo III class guide

The Witch Doctor

The Witch Doctor employs many pets, curses and poisons to find victory in battle. You’ll want to summon lots of pets if you are soloing the game. Field control is also a very important part of the Witch Doctor’s play style. You’ll want to grab a few spells that either slow down, poison or confuse monsters as you make your way through the story. Acid Cloud is a great AoE spell that can dissolve groups of enemies in seconds. You’ll mainly want to find items with Intelligence bonuses - that's the Witch Doctor's main stat. You don’t have to worry much about Vitality as you should have an army of minions and allies between you and your foes.   

Solo Build

• Primary: Firebomb (Flash Fire)
• Secondary: Acid Cloud (Lob Blob Bomb)

Action Bar:

• Summon Zombie Dogs (life link)
• Mass Confusions
• Gargantuan (Restless Giant)
• Spirit Barrage (The Spirit is Willing)

Passive Skills:

Gruesome Feast, Zombie Handler, Fetish Sycophants

The Witch Doctor is all about pets when soloing – a nice barrier of minions makes sure the good doctor stays alive. These undead hordes will give the Witch Doctor room to cast his AoEs such as Firebomb and Acid Cloud. The cloud will be useful for big crowds of tough enemies and Mass Confusion is a great "emergency button" if you get into trouble. Spirit Barrage is a great single target spell if you need to ping a target to death from across the screen. Gruesome Feast will give you mana when you pick up health orbs, ensuring greater spell-slinging stamina.

Group Build

• Primary: Poison Dart (Numbing Dart)
• Secondary: Grasp of Death (Death is Life)

Action Bar:

• Hex (Hedge Magic)
• Soul Harvest (Swallow Your Soul)
• Wall of Zombies
• Big Bad Voodoo

Passive Skill:

Spiritual Attunement, Blood Ritual, Pierce the Veil

It’s best to stick to battlefield control when grouping since casting a lot of pets may confuse other players. The Numbing Dart rune, Wall of Zombies and Grasp of Death are great ways to slow down and herd enemies. Hex with the Hedge Magic rune is a handy spell that will turn monsters into chickens (pacifying them and increasing the damage they are dealt) and heal allies at the same time. Big Bad Voodoo will send your allies' attack speed into overdrive, making you very popular with your group mates. All of the passive skills we suggested will also make sure you can cast spells longer and harder. But watch out, Blood Ritual will drain your life bar so give enemies a wide birth.

Boss Build

• Primary: Corpse Spiders (Leaping Spiders)
• Secondary: Haunt (Consuming Spirit)

Action Bar:

• Summon Zombie Dogs (Final Gift)
• Sacrifice (Next of Kin)
• Gargantuan (Restless Giant)
• Acid Cloud (Lob Blob Bomb)

Passive Skills:

Jungle Fortitude, Zombie Handler, Spirit Vessel

You want to stay mobile while fighting bosses with the Witch Doctor. Corpse Spiders and Haunt are great hit-and-run tactics to deal damage over time on the move – just cast and run. The zombie dogs are a great boss distraction and right before one dies you should use Sacrifice to take a big chunk of red out of the boss’s life bar. The Next of Kin rune will give you a few more pets to play with, and Final Gift on Summon Zombie Dogs will give you those precious life orbs seldom seen in boss battles. Acid Cloud is a quick way to deal with the minions bosses summon. Spirit Vessel will also give you a second chance if the big baddie kills you.

Best Follower

The Enchantress. If you are soloing you should have plenty of pets to get between you and the hordes of demons. The Enchantress is a great magic supporter and her Charm spell comes in very handy. Reflect Missiles can also be great for keeping ranged monsters from overwhelming you.