Tags: beginner

Witch Doctor Spirit of Arachyr Fresh 70 Starter Build (Patch 2.7.6 / Season 29)

Last updated on Feb 22, 2023 at 09:00 by Deadset 13 comments

This build is a starter build for fresh Level 70 Witch Doctors who have access to the Spirit of Arachyr set.

This guide is part of our Witch Doctor Seasonal Progress Guide, which also includes a leveling build and other early builds for fresh 70 characters.

1.

Fresh 70 Build

Active Skills
Left Mouse Button Firebats Icon Firebats Cloud of Bats Cloud of Bats Right Mouse Button Haunt Icon Haunt Draining Spirit Draining Spirit 1 Hex Icon Hex Jinx Jinx 2 Spirit Walk Icon Spirit Walk Severance Severance 3 Summon Zombie Dogs Icon Summon Zombie Dogs Leeching Beasts Leeching Beasts 4 Locust Swarm Icon Locust Swarm Pestilence Pestilence
Passive Skills
2.

How to Play the Build: Skills and Rotation

Arachyr builds naturally emphasize on creature-related skills, as defined by the 6 piece set bonus. It is recommended to build around Firebats Firebats as the most efficient damaging skill in the category, splitting your skill slots like so:

  • Slot 1 — Main Damage: Firebats Firebats will fulfill the purpose of a primary damage dealer in the build, taken with the strongest rune Cloud of Bats Cloud of Bats. Note that prior to obtaining the 6-piece Arachyr bonus, you will not have any set related bonuses to damage, and you can temporarily work with any Mana spender of your liking until then.
  • Slot 2 & 3 — Supplementary Damage and Buffs: While only Locust Swarm Locust Swarm is affected by the Arachyr set, you will do well to adopt both Locust Swarm Locust Swarm and Haunt Haunt early on, and get used to the dynamic of supplementing your damage with Pestilence Pestilence and restoring Mana with Draining Spirit Draining Spirit. This will best prepare you for Ring of Emptiness Ring of Emptiness, a key legendary item that quadruples your damage against enemies affected by both DoTs.
  • Slot 4 — Set Mechanic: Hex Hex is taken into the build by necessity, as the 4-piece set bonus grants you Damage Reduction that hinges on regular Hex Hexing. The default rune recommendation is the damage increasing Jinx Jinx, but once you obtain the Manajuma set you swap into the speedfarming staple Angry Chicken Angry Chicken.
  • Slot 5 — Mobility: Every well rounded build needs mobility, and for Witch Doctors this means Spirit Walk Spirit Walk; for farming, consider taking the speediest rune of them all — Severance Severance.
  • Slot 6 — Utility: Early on when you are still missing key legendaries, Summon Zombie Dogs Summon Zombie Dogs Leeching Beasts Leeching Beasts can provide some decent sustain and act as meat shields that protect you from the fray. As soon as you acquire Lakumba's Ornament Lakumba's Ornament (and especially when you add a Sacred Harvester Sacred Harvester), you should switch to the Witch Doctor protective mainstay — Soul Harvest Soul Harvest Languish Languish.
  • Passives: Try to balance your passives according to your needs, adding and subtracting offensive and defensive passives as needed. Preferred offensive passives for the build (in order) include: Confidence Ritual Confidence Ritual, Pierce the Veil Pierce the Veil, Creeping Death Creeping Death and Gruesome Feast Gruesome Feast. The preferred defensive passives are Spirit Vessel Spirit Vessel and Swampland Attunement Swampland Attunement. Note that in speedfarming Grave Injustice Grave Injustice trumps pretty much all other passives due to the fast killspeed of normal rifts — even more pronounced if you obtain the Manajuma set, due to the Angry Chicken Angry Chicken resets.
3.

Gear and Builds Using This Set

The build above is specifically created not to require any additional sets or legendary items. In order to transition to a late game-oriented spec using the same set, we have a rough list of high priority items to obtain, as well as a link to the build they pertain to.

4.

Changelog

  • 15 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Season 29.
  • 22 Feb. 2023: Reviewed for Season 28.
  • 10 Dec. 2021: Reviewed for Season 25.
  • 23 Jul. 2021: Reviewed for Season 24.
  • 02 Apr. 2021: Reviewed for Season 23.
  • 13 Mar. 2020: Reviewed for Season 20.
  • 22 Nov. 2019: Page added.
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