LoD Carnevil DoD Witch Doctor BiS Gear, Gems, and Paragon Points

Last updated on Jan 10, 2024 at 09:00 by Deadset 1 comment

Below, we detail the items and gems that you should use for your LoD Carnevil DoD Witch Doctor in Diablo 3 and why. We also list your paragon points and Kanai's Cube items. Updated for Patch 2.7.7 and Season 30.

1.

Best in Slot Gear and Alternatives

As this is a Legacy of Nightmares / Legacy of Dreams setup, the rest of your gear slots will be comprised entirely of legendary items. As a rule of thumb, focus on synergistic stats like Attack Speed, Area Damage and skill bonuses, and remember the setup's requirement for ancient items, as well as its restriction on other set bonuses. You can run individual set pieces with beneficial stats, as long as they do not form any set bonus.

The Legacy of Dreams power allows you to run any legendary item combination while not losing out on the damage amplification and reduction associated with the traditional 6-piece sets. You can obtain this power in two ways; the older way is equipping the two rings — The Wailing Host The Wailing Host and Litany of the Undaunted Litany of the Undaunted — as your only active set bonus. The newer method is the Legacy of Dreams Legacy of Dreams legendary gem. In this GR progression setup, the older Legacy of Nightmares setup pulls ahead, as it allows you to incorporate Bane of the Stricken Bane of the Stricken in the build to take down the massive health pools of high GR Guardians. You can still play a Legacy of Dreams Legacy of Dreams version of this build (with Convention of Elements Convention of Elements and Unity Unity equipped, and a worn Hellfire Amulet of Intelligence Hellfire Amulet of Intelligence with the Squirt's Necklace Squirt's Necklace cubed).

Rounding out the jewelry, the neck slot is best taken by a Squirt's Necklace Squirt's Necklace. Aside from the general DoD playstyle, this item will also incentivize you to keep your distance from enemies — it rewards the evasive playstyle of a Fetish summoner with a massive damage bonus, but also punishes the unwary with an amplification of damage taken.

The optimal chest for the build is Aquila Cuirass Aquila Cuirass, whose unique bonus will halve incoming damage as long as Mana does not dip below 90% of its reserve, which is effectively a permanent bonus in this pure generator spec.

Depth Diggers Depth Diggers increases the damage of all primary attacks by up to 100%, making it a natural inclusion in this Poison Dart-centric build. The desired stats are Intelligence, Vitality or Armor, 2 Sockets and Poison Dart %.

The best-in-slot belt for the build is the glass cannon favorite, The Witching Hour The Witching Hour. Naturally sporting the unusual combination of Attack Speed and Crit Damage, the optimal roll would also include Poison Dart %. Another viable, but noticeably weaker option is Belt of Transcendence Belt of Transcendence, which allows you to free up the Fetish Sycophants Fetish Sycophants passive slot for another of your choosing.

Lakumba's Ornament Lakumba's Ornament will reduce incoming damage by 60% per Soul Harvest Soul Harvest as baseline (with some variance — aim for the lowest, 1 harvested enemy requirement roll), plus additional 2% damage reduction for each stack.

Stone Gauntlets Stone Gauntlets are one of the most effective protective pieces in the game, bumping your armor in 50% increments as you get hit, but with a similarly stacking mobility penalty — a downside you will be completely negating with the unique property of Ice Climbers Ice Climbers, which make you immune to immobilization effects. Lacking any truly synergistic shoulders, your best bet for the slot are the Pauldrons of the Skeleton King Pauldrons of the Skeleton King — an Act 1 cache legendary that gives you an independent, yet minor chance for a cheat death proc.

The Carnevil Carnevil voodoo mask is a key legendary item that allows the 10 closest Fetish summons to shoot Poison Darts along with you. The mask sports the standard four primary stats and is interchangeable with a Mask of Jeram Mask of Jeram — so pick your better rolled helm and store the powers of the other in Kanai's Cube. Still, a good Carnevil Carnevil is much easier to obtain as it has no range to roll on the unique property (unlike Mask of Jeram Mask of Jeram, which has a massive range on the possible legendary roll), and comes as the default recommendation.

You have two options for the weapon; either The Dagger of Darts The Dagger of Darts, which produces the signature piercing effect of Poison Dart Poison Dart, or Sacred Harvester Sacred Harvester for the extension of Soul Harvest Soul Harvest stacks to 10; simply wear your better roll and cube the worse one. Your ideal offhand is the Zunimassa's String of Skulls Zunimassa's String of Skulls; it will be your only item from the set, and thus will not break the LoN/LoD bonus, and will bring a % bonus to Fetish Damage as an innate roll. An alternative for the slot emerges if you opt for a tankier build, by dropping Big Bad Voodoo Big Bad Voodoo and taking Summon Zombie Dogs Summon Zombie Dogs. This way you can equip Uhkapian Serpent Uhkapian Serpent and enjoy some extra damage reduction.

Slot Pieces Stat Priority
Head
  1. Intelligence
  2. Socket
  3. Critical Hit Chance
  4. Vitality
  5. Crowd Control Reduction (Secondary Stat)
Shoulders
  1. Intelligence
  2. Fetish Army Damage %
  3. Area Damage
  4. Cooldown Reduction
  5. Pickup Radius (Secondary Stat)
  6. Health Globe Healing Bonus (Secondary Stat)
Torso
  1. Intelligence
  2. 3 Sockets
  3. Fetish Army Damage %
  4. Vitality
  5. Melee or Missile Damage Reduction (Secondary Stat)
  6. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Wrists
  1. Intelligence
  2. Critical Hit Chance
  3. Poison Damage %
  4. Vitality
  5. Melee or Missile Damage Reduction (Secondary Stat)
  6. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Hands
  1. Intelligence (replaced by Area Damage at High Paragons)
  2. Critical Hit Damage
  3. Critical Hit Chance
  4. Attack Speed
  5. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
  6. Pickup Radius (Secondary Stat)
Waist
  1. Intelligence
  2. Poison Dart % Damage
  3. Attack Speed (if The Witching Hour The Witching Hour)
  4. Critical Hit Damage (if The Witching Hour The Witching Hour)
  5. Pickup Radius (Secondary Stat)
  6. Life per Kill (Secondary Stat)
Legs
  1. Intelligence
  2. 2 Sockets
  3. Poison Dart % Damage
  4. Vitality
  5. Armor
  6. Life per Kill (Secondary Stat)
Feet
  1. Intelligence
  2. Vitality
  3. All Resistance
  4. Armor
  5. Pickup Radius (Secondary Stat)
  6. Health Globe Healing Bonus (Secondary Stat)
Amulet
  1. Socket
  2. Critical Hit Damage
  3. Critical Hit Chance
  4. Poison Damage %
  5. Melee or Missile Damage Reduction (Secondary Stat)
  6. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Ring #1
  1. Socket
  2. Critical Hit Chance
  3. Critical Hit Damage
  4. Attack Speed or Area Damage
  5. Life per Kill (Secondary Stat)
  6. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Ring #2
  1. Socket
  2. Critical Hit Chance
  3. Critical Hit Damage
  4. Attack Speed or Area Damage
  5. Life per Kill (Secondary Stat)
  6. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Weapon
  1. High Weapon Damage
  2. Intelligence
  3. Socket (preferably from Ramaladni's Gift Ramaladni's Gift)
  4. Attack Speed Increase
  5. Area Damage
  6. Life per Kill (Secondary Stat)
Off-hand
  1. High Damage Range
  2. Intelligence
  3. Fetish Army %
  4. Area Damage
  5. Vitality
  6. Health Globe Healing Bonus (Secondary Stat)

To help you with farming the gear you need for your builds, we have two very useful guides that you can access by clicking the links below: a Salvage Guide to help you quickly check whether or not you can safely salvage a piece of gear and a Legendary Farming Guide to help you efficiently farm legendaries and set items.

1.1.

Altar of Rites

The former Season 28 theme, the Altar of Rites, has been revised and re-added to Diablo 3 as a permanent character progression mechanic. — For virtually all builds and players of all skill levels — from casual to advanced — we recommend progressing through the Altar tree using the path outlined below. The suggested path is geared towards maximum quality of life first, then amplifying damage, and then mopping up the tree with defensive and edge case utility nodes.

Note that while they require reaching them with a Seal, Legendary Potion Powers are not part of the Seal cost system; Potions unlock with a separate resource called Primordial Ashes, obtained from salvaging Legendary or Set items of Primal (red bordered) quality. Upgrade them as soon as possible, and in the order shown below (courtesy of Caleko's Altar of Rites planner).

Altar of Rites Planner

You can read more on the Altar of Rites, Seals and Legendary Potion Powers in our dedicated Altar of Rites Mechanics guide.

2.

Paragon Points

In the Core section, max out Movement Speed to the 25% cap. Normally this is done by dumping the first 50 Core Paragon points into Movement Speed, but if your boots have an imperfect roll with Movement Speed as a stat that you cannot replace, adjust the necessary point investment accordingly by simply subtracting your roll from the 25% max. After that, dump as much as you comfortably can into Intelligence, but feel free to invest into Vitality if you feel yourself lacking in toughness. Adding to Maximum Mana should not be necessary.

In the Offense section, max out Attack Speed, Crit Damage, Crit Chance and Cooldown Reduction, in that order. In Defense, prioritize Armor, then Life %, then All Resistance, and finish off with Life Regeneration. In Utility, build up Area Damage and Globe Radius first, then finish off with Life on Hit and Resource Cost Reduction.

Slot Paragon Points
Core
  1. Movement Speed up to 25% cap
  2. Intelligence
  3. Vitality
  4. Maximum Mana
Offense
  1. Attack Speed
  2. Critical Hit Damage
  3. Critical Hit Chance
  4. Cooldown Reduction
Defense
  1. Armor
  2. Life %
  3. All Resistance
  4. Life Regeneration
Utility
  1. Area Damage
  2. Globe Radius
  3. Life on Hit
  4. Resource Cost Reduction
3.

Gems

Simplicity's Strength Simplicity's Strength is one of the best DPS gems you can take for the build, as it was changed into a separate damage multiplication source to primary skills in Patch 2.4.1. Affecting both your and your Fetish's attacks, and upgrading with a steady pace of half a percent per gem level, it quickly becomes a priority and a fixture in your gem choices. Its buffed healing secondary effect is just the icing on the cake.

Enforcer Enforcer is a pet-oriented gem that both increases Fetish damage and lessens the damage the summons take. Note that the damage bonuses of this gem have been changed from additive to multiplicative in Patch 2.4.1, reinforcing it as a pet build staple.

You have some wiggle room in your final gem slot. For the absolute highest tiers of Greater Rift Progression, you will have to use Bane of the Stricken Bane of the Stricken for its scaling damage bonus, in order to get you through the GR Guardian fight; this necessitates the use of the Legacy of Nightmares set rings. Alternatively, you can use a tankier version with the Legacy of Dreams Legacy of Dreams legendary gem which provides a scaling bonus for each legendary item equipped — identically to The Wailing Host The Wailing Host and Litany of the Undaunted Litany of the Undaunted rings set bonus.

3.1.

Season 30 Soul Shards

In Season 30, your helm and weapon sockets will be taken over by the supremely powerful Soul Shards. For this variant, we recommend the following:

  • HelmFragment of Destruction with "When you apply a Mark of Destruction, you increase your movement speed by 5%" as its Rank 3 power. For optimization benefits, aim for Strength or Melee/Ranged Damage Reduction on its Rank 2 roll.
  • WeaponStain of Sin with "You gain an additional Rift Progress Orb when you kill an elite pack" as its Rank 3 power. For optimization benefits, aim for Skills % Increase (according to the element of your chosen Frenzy rune) or Weapon Damage Increase on its Rank 2 roll.
Slot Gems
Jewelry
Helm
Torso and Pants
Weapon

For more information about gems, please refer to our guide on gems.

4.

Kanai's Cube

As previously mentioned, you will be cubing your worse rolled item between The Dagger of Darts The Dagger of Darts and Sacred Harvester Sacred Harvester. The same applies to Mask of Jeram Mask of Jeram and Carnevil Carnevil in the armor slot of the Cube.

Tucked away in the jewelry slot of the Cube, Convention of Elements Convention of Elements will provide a massive elemental damage bonus in cycles, forcing you to pay close attention to its current state and to be ready to burst things down during the Poison cycle.

The Kanai's Cube can be used for much more than simply extracting Legendary powers from items. Please refer to our Kanai's Cube guide for more information.

5.

Follower

Both the Scoundrel and the Enchantress are viable followers for GR progression with this build. Scoundrel can be used for his powerful crit buff, allowing you brief windows of extra damage output. Enchantress offers an attack speed buff that can be useful when reaching for the attack speed breakpoints outlined above.

For more information regarding followers, we advise you to read our Follower Guide, which contains detailed advice for choosing the skills and the gear of your follower.

6.

Legendary Potion

Your recommended potion is Bottomless Potion of the Tower Bottomless Potion of the Tower, whose Armor-increasing properties complement the naturally high All Resistances stat of Witch Doctors (due to Intelligence scaling Resistances) for optimal survivability.

7.

Changelog

  • 10 Jan. 2024: Revised guide for the permanent addition of the Altar of Rites, and added Season-specific Soul Shard recommendations.
  • 13 Sep. 2023: Added Season 29 Paragon Cap and Gearing recommendations.
  • 22 Feb. 2023: Added Season 28 Altar of Rites recommendations.
  • 26 Aug. 2022: Added Season 27 Angelic Crucible recommendations.
  • 14 Apr. 2022: Guide reviewed for Season 26.
  • 06 Dec. 2021: Enriched the guide and added Season 25 Soul Shard recommendations.
  • 22 Jul. 2021: Added S24 Ethereal recommendation.
  • 01 Apr. 2021: Minor gearing revision and added follower recommendation.
  • 19 Nov. 2020: Added Cube recommendations for Season 22.
  • 01 Jul. 2020: No changes required for Season 21.
  • 12 Mar. 2020: Revised cube recommendations to better reflect the meta.
  • 22 Nov. 2019: Reviewed for Season 19.
  • 23 Aug. 2019: Item recommendations are revised for Season 18.
  • 17 May 2019: Guide added.
Show more
Show less