#1 - March 17, 2014, 5:49 a.m.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/11882388427
NOTICE: Patch 2.3+
This guide is out of date. See patch notes for changes. Basic melee build currently should use Zuni 6p and take advantage of the cube. Tiklandian perma fear is gone. It's probable that GR56 or maybe a little higher is the limit of melee fetish builds currently active. TMF dog and SMF gargs are much better off with helltooth.
NOTICE: Patch 2.2.0
Fetish sycophants are now summoned based on your highest elemental damage, e.g. poison, and their melee attacks will be in that element, again poison. They are supposed to summon with a green blade for poison, red for fire, blue for cold, and regular metal for physical. Unknown what happens if you have holy, lightning, arcane, etc, but that wouldn't be a good synergy with WD skills.
New Zunimassa's Haunt set bonuses: 2p FA lasts until they die, 4p you and your pets gain 2% damage reduction for each fetish summoned, and 6p any enemies hit by a mana spender take 275% more damage from pets. This completely changes the gear choices one must make.
For highest levels of Greater Rifts, Tiklandian permanent fear is still very useful because of how much unavoidable damage there is.
Carnevil does a lot of damage and is a respectable replacement for a DH in a group scenario.
New Fetish belt, the belt of transcendence, allows you to summon one fetish sycophant every time you hit an enemy with a mana spender. This allows the removal of Fetish Sycophants from your passive lineup to be replace by something. Great!
NOTICE: Path 2.1.1
While they attempted to address pet leash length and pet toughness, they've still missed some things. The dog leash is shorter than the fetish leash. Fetishes still get wiped out easily by some white enemies and especially certain rift guardians. Continue to be vocal and they continue to listen.
NOTICE: Patch 2.1.0
There is now a max of 15 FS fetishes. There is a beautiful counter.
There is also a counter for FA fetishes separate from FS
Gidbinn fetishes don't count towards those and still follow the same rules as before: max of 3 and 20s life span.
Outline:
0. Versions
1. Introduction
2. Build
3. Fetish Damage
4. Fetish Toughness
5. Gear Advice
6. Team play
7. FAQ
8. Videos
9. Build Paths
10. Technical Details
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0. Versions
Version 1.0: March 16th, 2014, Diablo 3 Patch 2.0.3 before RoS is released. Initial Guide Released. Expect additions, changes, and corrections in the coming week(s).
Version 1.1: March 18th, 2014. Some changes were made and updates to FAQ. Expected to add Technical Details section in the coming days.
Version 2.0: Expected to be written post RoS release.
Version 2.0.1: Just added some RoS Example builds. The build is still working! Good luck upgrading to RoS!
Version 2.0.4: Late breaking news Patch 2.04 Pets now benefit from crit damage.
Version 2.0.4a: Fetish army changes.
Version 2.0.5: Big changes to the way Fetish sycophants are summoned. Guide updated appropriately.
Version 2.1.0: Big patch. Grifts, etc.
Version 2.1.1: Small updates to gear advice
Version 2.2.0: April 4th in anticipation of major changes from Patch 2.2
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1. Introduction
I started playing Diablo 3 before Day 1 during the open beta. I loved the Summoner Necro in Diablo 2 and picked the Witch Doctor because it was the only class that really seemed to fit my play style. Unfortunately, pets sucked, but I happened to like all things Witch Doctor, so I kept at it. Witch Doctor is still the only class I've played in Diablo 3 and so far, it seems I won't stray from that path.
I am writing this guide from the perspective of someone who was rocking MP10/T6 farming and could immediately transition to high level Torment and Grift play.
Before I even get started, there are too many people to list, but a great many people have helped put this knowledge base together. All I'm doing is cataloging it for general consumption, putting it all in one easy to find and easy to update place. I would like to especially thank the people who called them Fetish Psychos, because I never even thought to "mispronounce" their name. Anyways, on to the reason you're here.
Big change for Diablo 3 Patch 2.0/RoS expansion: Fetish now do 180% damage. !@#$ yea Zookeeper, Skellymancer, Fetish General, and the summoner are all back and ready to rock n roll!
Problem: Fetishes summoned by fetish army only last 20 seconds until you happen to find two pieces of the new Zunimassa Set https://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/zunimassas-string-of-skulls or if you use the https://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/starmetal-kukri
The answer to this problem is using Fetish Sycophants passive http://us.battle.net/d3/en/class/witch-doctor/passive/fetish-sycophants
Every time you cast a "Physical realm" spell, you have a chance to summon a fetish for 60 seconds. They are basically the same as Fetishes summoned by Fetish Army (FA). They do the same damage, they benefit from most of the same gear, and they hit like a truck.
Some combinations of elite affixes are really dangerous to you. If you run around and don't get hit by those, you don’t die, and your fetishes are still there attacking, doing damage for you. You can then set up shop at a safe distance.
This entire build is very minimal as it allows you to adapt to what gear you find. I highly recommend if you find cool new gear, you try it out, even if it means altering your favorite play style. You never know what you'll like.
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2. BUILD
Basics of the build:
1. Medium Attacks Per Second (APS), e.g. 1.65 to 1.8, is fine
2. Rain of Toads or Belt of Transcendence (BoT or FS belt) + Haunt
3. Fetish Sycophants (FS) if you don't have or don't want to use the FS belt
If you want more build options given certain types of gear, see section 9. Build Paths.
Here it is, the basic build. You fill in the blanks with whatever you want. Yes it's that flexible.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#W!V!b
There are many variations on this build, but I think this is an excellent starting point.
Can you use other attacks besides Rain of Toads? Yes! When using another attacks, you must reference the "Proc Rate" of the skill.
Go to Reaper's stuck thread and search for Proc Rate:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/11882388427
Patch 2.2: You can replace rain of toads with a mana spender, e.g. haunt, and the FS Belt; allowing you to drop the FS passive completely.
A notable exception is using the http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-dagger-of-darts along with poison dart flaming dart or snake to the face runes. These are better at summoning FS fetishes.
Experiment for yourself.
What do primaries and fetishes have in common? They don't cost any mana to stand there and spam.
So I highly recommend "Pierce the Veil" (PtV) passive for the free 20% damage.
See gear section for benefits of not needing mana regen.
With loot 2.0, you can't just jump on the Auction House and buy whatever legendaries you want, you have to farm for them, and it's expected you will find them eventually if you keep at it (and play with other WDs).
This build is very flexible and you can form it to fit the gear you find before you reach an "end game state".
See Reaper's Stuck Thread for a list of guides for build possibilities:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/11882388427
Example build with the new FS belt, a tiki-pet build:
https://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#elXUQP!WYe!YZbab
This build assume usage of https://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/tiklandian-visage to permanently lock down enemies.
I've left out the final passive, because you can find something good. I've also not picked a rune on fetish army because you need to choose your highest elemental damage, e.g. fire or physical.
A poison themed build with the new Zuni 6p. Acid rain will make enemies take the zuni 6p bonus and the other are simply allowing you to spam:
https://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#elRUQP!WYef!YZaabc
Aside from the zuni 6p, no assumptions are made on your gear. Jade 2p would work well since you can spam haunt.
There are many options.
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3. FETISH DAMAGE or What do my fetishes benefit from?
What stats benefit your Fetish Damage?
Thanks to: http://www.reddit.com/r/Diablo3witchdoctors/comments/209xt3/does_elemental_damage_affect_pets/
Pets damage is dynamically linked to your own. If you cast Soul Harvest on five enemies, they will also do increased damage. Same goes for Gruesome Feast, BBV, Sacrifice Provoke the Pack, etc.
See PaulNG's Pet Damage calculator for the full formula. They benefit fully from your APS, crit chance, and crit damage, along with most gems.
https://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/13349475072
Most WD skills say "Does 180% Weapon Damage" and that's what they do, but in this case, pets are special as they gain damage based on your attack speed as well.
These do not benefit pets:
Midnight Feast: Doesn't work on Fetishes D:. Does work on dogs and garg.
Area damage: Pets simply don't proc area damage
Chance to freeze/stun/etc: They can't proc them.
Chance to do [insert special legendary affix]: They also can't do this.
Life on hit: Zero. Same as the above, they simply can't proc stuff. Exception: Dogs life on hit run does gain life on hit, but not chance to freeze/etc.
Special Case:
Big Bad Voodoo:
Pets gain movement speed when standing in the BBV ring.
Pets gain healing from Ghost Trance when standing in the BBV ring.
Pets gain attack speed while standing in the BBV ring.
However, for pets to gain DAMAGE from BBV, you need to stand inside the BBV ring of influence. If you stand outside BBV's ring, even if they are standing inside it, they won't do more damage.
To maximize your DPS, set it up so you and your pets are standing safely in the BBV aura.
The above is true, except for one gargantuan rune.
The wrathful protector will snapshot your APS at the time it is summoned, so make sure to drop BBV and stand inside the aura if you use that garg.
Side note: If on a team with other Witch Doctors, coordinate your BBV runes because if you all use Slam Dance, they won't stack. It's better to spread the love.
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4. FETISH TOUGHNESS
You have very little control over your fetishes. They are basically at the mercy of getting all damaging elite affixes dropped on them. Good thing is they don't stop attacking as long as they aren't frozen, walled off, jailed, knocked back, err, well they attack.
They dynamically gain benefits from all of your toughness. For instance, cast Horrify Frightening Aspect to increase your armor and they too will take less damage.
Health Globes heal your pets including health globe bonus.
Life on kill: Pets do not seem to gain any life on kill.
Pets do not benefit from items that make you immune to a damage type, such as:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/countess-julias-cameo
Patch 2.04 Update: Reported change, will update if found to be false.
Difference between Fetish Army and Fetish Sycophants.
Fetish Sycophants no longer have force armor. This means they are more prone to be one shot or melted by regular white enemies such as Morlu Incinerators or Dark Berserkers.
Fetish Army remains the same as before and survive better than FS fetishes.
Dogs and Gargs still have force armor.
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5. GEAR ADVICE
In this section, I am going to talk a bit towards gear. The issue is, you're going to find your own gear and you may want to stick with Fetishes or you may not. I suggest adapting to your gear and trying out new builds, even if it doesn't work out and you go back to your favorite play style, at least you learned what you didn't like.
Gear Advice thread for patch 2.2+:
https://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/17346234812
(Note: Just leaving this here in case people wanted to know how bats work. Bats are no longer the best way to proc FS fetishes, as of Patch 2.0.5
From Nubtro's research, Bats "tick" at about two times your attack speed according to the table here aka APS breakpoints :
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/8796451628?page=7
/end Note)
Patch 2.2:
Fetish Sycophants will now gain do highest elemental damage, e.g. poison. So pick an element and go for it! No longer are we forced into physical only builds.
Excellent!
Patch 2.2: New!
Belt of Transcendence: Get rid of the fetish sycophant passive and rain of toads. Allows one to use Haunt and other mana spenders to summon fetishes. Fantastic change!
The zuni 6p bonus is huge. A separate 275% more damage for your pets! Losing T&T (or not being able to find one) is not a big deal if you have this set.
Most players will reserve the helmet slot for either Mask of Jeram or Tiklandian.
Jade 2p can do a lot of damage. With the double haunt and the FS passive, one can keep 15 fetishes up fairly consistently. With the new belt and one haunt, 15 FS should be up 99% of the time.
Example setup:
Zuni 6p: Gloves, Chest, Pants, Boots, Mojo, and helm along with both rings using this set http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/restraint
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#ebQPUi!VYWe!YbbcaZ
Cast spiders once every 5 seconds to keep up the bonus and help manage mana.
This is good up to mid 40s in the greater rifts and certainly capable of some flexibility in T6 farming.
Healing gear:
None. Just put Life on Hit into paragon.
This gem is an exception where one might want to get some life regen on gear:
https://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/molten-wildebeests-gizzard
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6. TEAM PLAY or So many Fetishes, it's just not funny anymore.
Problem: Everyone is using the same BBV rune! The same BBV runes don't stack and that sucks!
Everyone coordinate to change it! Someone use Slam Dance, someone use Ghost Trance (healing), etc. Unfortunately, Rain Dance doesn't regenerate mana for allies.
