Helltooth Acid Cloud Witch Doctor

[Damien 1,514]

This thread is for comments about our Helltooth Acid Cloud Witch Doctor Build Guide.

[Oxygen 446]

Very well written, as per usual.

 

An idea that keeps on haunting me - that of using Frostburn to rapidly trigger Rimeheart's 10,000% damage against frozen enemies, thanks to Iceblink's synergetic effect, and the fact that the damage-over-time nature of the build would present many opportunities to trigger the effect... assuming (perhaps wrongly?) that such abilities would in fact trigger. RoRG would have to replace Convention as the Kanai passive as an unfortunate side effect.

I fear Rimeheart may be affected by proc coefficients, however.

[CuteExponent 0]

Excellent guide, revealed the hidden gem of stacking dot dmg that i didnt even know about! One question tho, is iceblink really a worthwhile choice? Why not wildebeast for toughness or stricken for dps?

[Deadset 108]

Very well written, as per usual.

 

An idea that keeps on haunting me - that of using Frostburn to rapidly trigger Rimeheart's 10,000% damage against frozen enemies, thanks to Iceblink's synergetic effect, and the fact that the damage-over-time nature of the build would present many opportunities to trigger the effect... assuming (perhaps wrongly?) that such abilities would in fact trigger. RoRG would have to replace Convention as the Kanai passive as an unfortunate side effect.

I fear Rimeheart may be affected by proc coefficients, however.

 

Rimeheart is indeed affected by proc coefficients and additionally affected by its own proc chance, making its effect very infrequent - a sad reality of an otherwise interesting weapon!

 

Excellent guide, revealed the hidden gem of stacking dot dmg that i didnt even know about! One question tho, is iceblink really a worthwhile choice? Why not wildebeast for toughness or stricken for dps?

 

As a general rule, when pushing for highest placement, exclude Toughness gems first. Bane of the Stricken is worth exploring as the build doesn't perform as well on single target, and would likely take the place of Esoteric before anything else. This would, of course, make the gameplay extremely glassy and dangerous to play :)

[Guest lyravega]

Well written, however I wish there were a bit more alternative suggestions to pretty much everything.

 

About to a question that has been asked before, I believe Stricken might do better on long fights, but for speed grifts, Iceblink may fare better. Stricken's debuff takes co-efficients into account, even though you will see a lot of numbers on the screen, pets do not contribute to this, and AoE attacks always have a low co-efficient.

[Warden 8]

Under the CotE section, you say that only physical damage is wasted in the ring's buff rotation. But don't the Corpse Spiders do physical? At first I was thinking their damage was minimal anyway, but with the 6 piece Helltooth set bonus, it's a bigger factor.

[Deadset 108]

Under the CotE section, you say that only physical damage is wasted in the ring's buff rotation. But don't the Corpse Spiders do physical? At first I was thinking their damage was minimal anyway, but with the 6 piece Helltooth set bonus, it's a bigger factor.

 

The Medusa Spiders rune turns it into cold damage (it's a unclear on the bnet website - it lists the slowing effect but not the elemental change).

[Warden 8]

Under the CotE section, you say that only physical damage is wasted in the ring's buff rotation. But don't the Corpse Spiders do physical? At first I was thinking their damage was minimal anyway, but with the 6 piece Helltooth set bonus, it's a bigger factor.

 

The Medusa Spiders rune turns it into cold damage (it's a unclear on the bnet website - it lists the slowing effect but not the elemental change).

Ok, thanks. That's good to know. Since it didn't list the damage type, I assumed I stayed ad physical. t

[Guest PawisBetlog]

 

 

Under the CotE section, you say that only physical damage is wasted in the ring's buff rotation. But don't the Corpse Spiders do physical? At first I was thinking their damage was minimal anyway, but with the 6 piece Helltooth set bonus, it's a bigger factor.

 

The Medusa Spiders rune turns it into cold damage (it's a unclear on the bnet website - it lists the slowing effect but not the elemental change).

Ok, thanks. That's good to know. Since it didn't list the damage type, I assumed I stayed ad physical. t

 

I always use the graphic background on the rune as my guide for damage type, and for medusa it is indeed cold.

[Warden 8]

I always use the graphic background on the rune as my guide for damage type, and for medusa it is indeed cold.

 

I might have been looking at it from work where I couldn't log into the game.  I mean, not that I was being unproductive on the job... I was rotating my thought tasks to maintain peak mental acuity.  Yeah.

[phi39582 0]

Great guide Deadset, I enjoy the detail that you provide and your vocaulary brings this to a level that other Diablo streamers can't touch.  That said, I can validate one of your statements, using BotS has been my goal since "Day 1" of S4, however, I'm writing this to say that I give up, and will be moving to EA as a replacement.  The amount of cheap deaths that a WD experiences w/o damage mitigation is insane.  Your guide is spot on, and while people can certainly choose to use something other than your recommended, I wouldn'y suggest it.  Keep up the good work. 

[iCECORE 0]

Awesome guide as always.  I think there is an offshoot that uses zombie bears with skrimshaw that's killing it on leaderboards.  What's your take on it?

[Deadset 108]

Great guide Deadset, I enjoy the detail that you provide and your vocaulary brings this to a level that other Diablo streamers can't touch.  That said, I can validate one of your statements, using BotS has been my goal since "Day 1" of S4, however, I'm writing this to say that I give up, and will be moving to EA as a replacement.  The amount of cheap deaths that a WD experiences w/o damage mitigation is insane.  Your guide is spot on, and while people can certainly choose to use something other than your recommended, I wouldn'y suggest it.  Keep up the good work. 

 

Thank you so much for the kind words! :)

 

 

Awesome guide as always.  I think there is an offshoot that uses zombie bears with skrimshaw that's killing it on leaderboards.  What's your take on it?

 

It is a really strong Helltooth variation - perhaps the strongest at the moment, certainly reflected on the Leaderboard - so guide is on the way!

[Guest Nevernude]

How do both rings proc with those spiders? I use Mana spiders to proc the regen and acid cloud to trigger the other.

[Deadset 108]

How do both rings proc with those spiders? I use Mana spiders to proc the regen and acid cloud to trigger the other.

 

They don't, the spiders only proc the generator requirement. :) You are doing it correctly.

[Guest Ohrkid]

Hi WD fans. I am used the build in this guide to grift 56, now i am stuck. I seem unable to get further without Unity then my damage is not adequate for the timer. I don't have an ancient weapon but my gear is good. Can anyone write a brief synopsis of their gameplay I feel as if i am making mistakes. tyvm

[Guest jimmie dreams]

this build kicks ass.  thanks!

[Guest yoyo]

one question why is a socet in weapon priority listed as without ramalandis gift is there some deterance to useing ramalandis im unaware of ?

[Guest ibmeubu]

one question why is a socet in weapon priority listed as without ramalandis gift is there some deterance to useing ramalandis im unaware of ?

As I understand it, what that line of text means is that the listed rolls are the best rolls to go for if you do not have Ramalandi's Gift.

 

So if, for example, you get a SuWong to drop and it doesn't have a socket, and you don't have a Gift, you're going to want to reroll for socket as your first priority. If the SuWong drops with everything perfect but no socket, Gift it. If SuWong drops with a socket but without something like Vit or Acid Cloud, you can reroll the socket into Vit or Acid Cloud, and then Gift it.

 

The text is a bit misleading or confusing, but I think that's what is meant.

[Guest Truples]

Hey Deadset, another great guide.  I just had a question about the weapon slot (not just for this but all WD weapon choices really).  The obvious choice seems to be Suwong's for the 100% acid damage and the lob bomb, but what about sacred harvester?  it gives 5 more stacks of harvest soul as you know. The many defensive bonuses aside, this gives us15% extra int and unless i'm mistaken each int = 1% extra damage?   so lets say you have 10,000 base int, a relatively easy mark, and 15% extra int from the extra 5 stacks, that's 1500% extra damage?  Doesn't this overshadow the 100% from Suwongs?

[Warden 8]

Hey Deadset, another great guide.  I just had a question about the weapon slot (not just for this but all WD weapon choices really).  The obvious choice seems to be Suwong's for the 100% acid damage and the lob bomb, but what about sacred harvester?  it gives 5 more stacks of harvest soul as you know. The many defensive bonuses aside, this gives us15% extra int and unless i'm mistaken each int = 1% extra damage?   so lets say you have 10,000 base int, a relatively easy mark, and 15% extra int from the extra 5 stacks, that's 1500% extra damage?  Doesn't this overshadow the 100% from Suwongs?

 

Sort of but not really.   The increase from Int is an additive increase.  So with your Int of 10,000, you are already getting a 10,000% damage increase over your base damage (which means that your base damage is actually very small and most of your actual damage comes from the increase your Int provides.)  You add 15% Int so your total Int is now 11,500, giving you a 11,500% damage increase over your base damage.  But the extra 1500% is pretty small compared to the 10,000% you already have, so your *increase* is not that much.

 

Numbers: say your base damage is 9,900 and your Int is 10,000, and then you add another 15% Int...

 

9,900 + 10,000% = 1,000,000 Damage (approx.)

9,900 + 11,500% = 1,150,000 Damage (approx.)

 

1,150,000 is only 15% higher than 1,000,000.  The 100% damage bonus from Suwong is multiplicative, so you do twice as much damage.  Your 1,000,000 turns into 2,000,000--way higher than what you get from Soul Harvest.

 

In reality, there are many more variables, so the numbers don't come out exactly like this.  But it works to show the difference between the two different types of damage increases.

[Guest incident404]

Awesome buid!

 

Only one question should i stack same + elemental dmg on amulet and bracers or should i go for fire and ice?

[Deadset 108]

Awesome buid!

 

Only one question should i stack same + elemental dmg on amulet and bracers or should i go for fire and ice?

 

I'd say pick one and stick with it, so you can time moments of heavy Mana spending according to the Convention of Elements cycle better.

[Guest travael]

should try dropping harvest for zombie dogs..either the chilled to the bone rune or burning dogs..they get a 900% bonus from helltooth 6 piece and provide meat shield.  with chilled the 15% damage boost on top of their independent dps greatly outdoes the intelligence increase for damage and they require no active use. 

 

also spirit walk is "nice" for defensive and movement i find that horrify with ruthless terror for spammable acid cloud or frightening aspect for armor is actually better for survivability.  for raw damage hex with unstable form is..just unbeatable when elements is on fire.

[Guest Diplomat]

So I play on season and have a choice between non ancient Suwong or other ancient weapon  + offhand, what I wonder is how much damage does acid cloud really do in this build, Cause having -(25/30%) damage seemed like much bigger trade off, as both fire wall and piranya seem to be doing their big part. Also while having a slot for convention on elements (dont have "restraint" yet", i use ring of grandeur and switch chest for cindercoat, spiders for mana, and cloud for also fire.. is going that way viable or will I strugle too much for survival in later rifts?