Don't like being at the mercy of RNG CC gods?
Kiting is for Demon Hunters!
Already have a tank alt?
Like most Witch Doctors I have played all the different popular builds all the while thinking "this is not how I imagined playing a Witch Doctor". So I said F it, I'll Play the way I want to and to bad if I hit a wall at least I'm having fun! (because you know its a game). Since then I have hardly looked back, This build gave me the spells I was excited to use after seeing the original WD videos Namely Pets and insect swarm. So how far can I/we take this build?
Act1 Complete
Act2 Complete
Act3 Complete - Note:Skipped Ghom for now
Act4 Q2
Updated: 04 July 2012 Added Gear Discussion Video Updated: 05 July 2012 Added Belial Kill Video Updated: 14 July 2012 Added Ghom Kill Attempt Updated: 16 July 2012 Added Co-op Seigebreaker Kill Updated: 20 July 2012 Added Solo Seigebreaker Kill Updated: 23 July 2012 Added Cydaea Kill Updated: 31 July 2012 Added Azmodan Kill Updated: 31 July 2012 Added Act 3 Gear Update Updated: 01 August 2012 Added Iskatu Kill
--Max Media Files reached Please check post Number for future videos-- Updated: 08 August 2012 The Act 4 Wall - (Post #27)
--With the pet changes in 1.0.4 this build becomes some what obsolete as we no longer need to invest so heavily to keep our dogs alive. As a result I have discontinued this series. Thanks for all your support and look forward to new and exciting builds in the future!--
Here are the problems with that build. I actually made something similar weeks ago but it failed mid Act 2. It just was more of a problem. And it didn't solve any.
The 20% damage reduction when you do poison damage: does this reset on every tick of locust swarm or only on the initial hit? We have no idea. Mobs have no debuffs to look at. I'm sure it's testable, but it's probably not worth it.
They don't tank. Most mobs (especially elites) completely ignore them and run right for you anyways. If they aren't tanking; what's the point?
Your pets die at nearly every elite; sometimes instantly on mobs such as: arcane/molten/plagued/etc. This is the only time you really need them. When they are dead; you are nearly ineffective. 2 slots are useless for a period of time that is way too long and when you can resummon, there's no guarantee they will deal any damage before dying again.
The build is very weak on CC's -or- has no escape ability -or- it has no way to spike damage output for elites. I found it very difficult to put 2 pets on the bar (garg and dogs) 2 attacks (single target and aoe) and then get both a good CC and an escape on the bar all at once.
To maximize the pets (ie zombie handler, 20% damage reduction and 20% less damage when you deal poison) you lose spirit vessel. Which sucks. Spirit vessel is probably the best WD survival skill we have.
The build completely falls apart on a boss. They die instantly to most bosses. Gargantuan -might- survive the skeleton king's whirlwind. Might. If you overgear it. All other bosses; dead right when the fight starts.
This is my opinion, but inferno, your pets make your life harder than it needs to be. They block things on the ground you need to see, which can make kiting a bit more difficult. They will also aggro to creatures that you aren't ready to face yet; starting combat with elites that you wish they wouldn't. Followers do this too, but at least there is only 1, not 3/4 dogs and a gargantuan moving all in different directions.
Think about it a different way. When do you need pets? Elites and bosses, right? What do you need them for? Tanking/damage, right? Solve this problem with: fetish army and BBV.
The only way to make dogs viable is to make a build that creates dogs passively (confusion, etc) and then change the button to sacrifice. Of course, the problem here is: you've just lost abilities that are useful on a boss.
Really? I think locust is the coolest skill in the WD arsenal. I once did a "99 killed in one hit" combo with locust, it felt good.
Yeah, locust swarm is cool to a point. Locust swarm's weakness is that you have to be so close to mobs to make it effective -and- the game is buggy that sometimes the swarm just won't latch onto anything. And that sucks. But, yeah, those huge kill streaks are bad ass. Until, it hits a goblin and you lose it, cuz it was 2 screens away and you hadn't even seen it yet. :/
I miss that spell; but I've found that running without a true AOE works a lot better. Your best aoe attacks are your CC's (GoD and wall of zombies).
Nice post with lots of valid points. I play this build not because it is "optimal" (maybe not even viable past a point) but because it is fun and I feel like I'm playing a witch Doctor using this build not a weak wizard/barb.
You say around mid act2 is were it hits the wall which is about where I am and starting to feel the struggle, hopefully nothing a few upgrades won't fix.
SK big swing 1 shots most things I will have to go back and re-test haven't done him in awhile, The Butcher - pets survive through without needing to be re-summoned.
As you noted champion packs can be tough but that's the same for all builds? The only ones that give me any headaches are plagued+electrified/molten. Pets take reduced damage from Arcane so these are not an issue and I'm hoping they make all aoe champion damage classed as "environment" so our pets take next to no damage from them (the same as arcane).
Locus Swarm:
Above loving this skill I find without running a CC pet build without some form of aoe your pets get over run before things can die, Locus swarm handles this.
This build is not "the" pet build to take you through inferno this is simply a build I love to play and hopefully some other people get enjoyment out of it to, however with some decent changes in 1.04 (lets hope) I believe this build is easily able to do acts3/4.
As you noted champion packs can be tough but that's the same for all builds? The only ones that give me any headaches are plagued+electrified/molten. Pets take reduced damage from Arcane so these are not an issue and I'm hoping they make all aoe champion damage classed as "environment" so our pets take next to no damage from them (the same as arcane).
Not at all. Act 1 elite groups die within seconds with fetish army (increase size by 3) and BBV (damage up by 30%). you don't even need to kite them around. It's crazy - it's just free loot. In Act 2, this same combo will usually kill 2 or any pack of elites (except shielded or extra health mobs). So it's super effective there too. Sometimes it'll let you kill the entire group without kiting, but not every time. Early in Act 3 (38k DPS), this setup will usually take down 1 of the elites, maybe 2. But my DPS is low for Act 3 - I can feel it.
Even if these are on CD, I have GoD and Wall of Zombies almost always available. Which are great CCs. And, in the worst circumstance, will buy enough time for those other abilities to come off CD and use if necessary.
Also, in Act 2, if you have this combo (FA and BBV), phase 2 of belial ends without him getting any adds out at all. Which makes this fight a million times easier. I finally killed Belial today with this combo - ZK was an unbelievably easy fight too. So I'm pretty stoked.
If you are running with pets, locust swarm (with your passive) is almost mandatory. Maybe acid cloud, but that spell kinda sucks. Locust swarm has, probably, the coolest looking effect in the entire arsenal. If only you didn't have to be so close to shoot it off. :/
Two things to the OP:
1) Could you also post a link to the skill calc with your build? It helps for those of us who want a quick way to see if this is actually new info or not (turned out to be different enough, but still, it bugs mean when people basically just put a link to their YT video).
2) This seems more along the lines of a splinters build. Of course, I guess that's why it's a Poison Summoner. It's not just a summoner, sa you have to do most of the damage yourself.
I might have to try this if/when I get a decent off-hand to allow me t oreplace my current 2hander.
Really? I think locust is the coolest skill in the WD arsenal. I once did a "99 killed in one hit" combo with locust, it felt good.
I just love Locust Swarm, from a concept point of view. It's one of my three favorite concept skills, along with Firebomb, and ZB. It's also what I rocked (with firebomb) up till middle of Hell when things started getting rough.
As you noted champion packs can be tough but that's the same for all builds? The only ones that give me any headaches are plagued+electrified/molten. Pets take reduced damage from Arcane so these are not an issue and I'm hoping they make all aoe champion damage classed as "environment" so our pets take next to no damage from them (the same as arcane).
Not at all. Act 1 elite groups die within seconds with fetish army (increase size by 3) and BBV (damage up by 30%). you don't even need to kite them around. It's crazy - it's just free loot. In Act 2, this same combo will usually kill 2 or any pack of elites (except shielded or extra health mobs). So it's super effective there too. Sometimes it'll let you kill the entire group without kiting, but not every time. Early in Act 3 (38k DPS), this setup will usually take down 1 of the elites, maybe 2. But my DPS is low for Act 3 - I can feel it.
Even if these are on CD, I have GoD and Wall of Zombies almost always available. Which are great CCs. And, in the worst circumstance, will buy enough time for those other abilities to come off CD and use if necessary.
Also, in Act 2, if you have this combo (FA and BBV), phase 2 of belial ends without him getting any adds out at all. Which makes this fight a million times easier. I finally killed Belial today with this combo - ZK was an unbelievably easy fight too. So I'm pretty stoked.
If you are running with pets, locust swarm (with your passive) is almost mandatory. Maybe acid cloud, but that spell kinda sucks. Locust swarm has, probably, the coolest looking effect in the entire arsenal. If only you didn't have to be so close to shoot it off. :/
You have 38k DPS. the OP has, I think, 17K. That probably makes a big difference in what is workable.
I wish Blizzard would implement some sort of unlockable "comparison" gear when you beat each act in Inferno. This would give you standardized gear of some average value. That way, when we discussed a build, we could all be comeing from the same place, instead of our opinion being entirely colored by how good of gear we have.
Dropping 3 blobs right you can wall a champ, even without a choke. I call it the hug of death. Bring WoZ too and with skill you can really stop a lot of enemies. I use bad medicine / fort / blood ritual. I use mana regen on all 3, 900 LOH and mana bonus on spirit walk (for extra blobs). Blobs block doors and chokes laughably easy, often long enough to let your WoZ fully CD. Which is great utility when it's functional; when they tele at least the blobs follow and keep the memdicine going. Then I bring Rain of Toads or Addling. 25% fear on hit on addling feels great. BBV for champs, but I bring HP instead of damage. Between life regen items, Blood Ritual, Ghost trance, you can be a crazy lifesteal tank.
Some thoughts. I think we're going to end up being the best life leechers.
Pushing into act 3 (quest 3 atm) got a couple of upgrades over the last few days added another 400 regen (1350) and 50 res all (650-700) it has made a HUGH difference. Plagued packs still giving me a headache, but not a lot else thus far.
I like it, just cleared everything from A1 (chapter 9) up to and killed Butcher. Had 2 dogs die, the entire run. Lost none on Butcher. He barely even moved, they seemed to keep him pinned by the gate. He did one charge and was dead right after.
Ive been doing a somewhat similar pet build, but I add in Legion of Daggers, Bears and BBV (mana). Passives I use VQ, PtV and SV. dogs, garg and legion barrier is unstoppable on just about every pack. Works for me all the way thru act 3.
I used a similar build as well. Locust Swarm is definitely the skill you want to go with a low-mana pet build. I would use Soul Harvest instead of Frightening Aspect mostly though but Frightening Aspect is probably needed as you get further along. I would also get Ghost Trance sometimes.
One thing that's worth noting is that Zombie Handler is better than Bad Medicine for pets for sure. So if your primary concern is pets, you want Zombie Handler. Overall though Bad Medicine is probably better because it reduces the damage you personally take.
And for those who didn't know, Healing Journey works with Fierce Loyalty, so the pets are getting that regen. Also, thorns is terrible and just a filler stat really. Getting %CC gear isn't fun because you kill things too slow and get frequent enrages, at least I did. You may not die, but the game moves so slow that it just feels awful. This poison summoner build will become really popular when they buff pets I'm sure.
The problem I have with it is that your survivability is lower against elites/champions since you only have 2 forms of CC, and sometimes you use Frightening Aspect just for the armor. Also, some affixes / monsters will annihilate your pets with the way things are currently. Too often it feels like you're playing a splinter build with 3 less CC abilities. Now if you could ever get good %CC, survivability and damage, you'd be pretty solid. When I had %CC gear I had really bad damage, was hard to get all 3 of those.
It's not a bad idea to play this build and get used to it + gear for it because when they buff pets it'll be a really good build. You'll be able to stack more damage than you can now. Locust Swarm will be really good vs white mobs still and your pets should be able to tank most enemies with the right gear. Horrify is still somewhat questionable though.
-The Acid Rain rune helps a lot against all those small pests (wasps in act 2, fallen lunatics in act 3).
-Because of the high health regen, I think the "Healing Journey" rune is the wrong way to go. Acid Rain (or locust in your case) is quite expensive, getting 30% mana back is worth a lot more.
-I like the Zombie Wall a lot more than Horrify, if you do it right, mobs will get stuck in the wall, even in the open field. Doesn't matter what kind of mobs (Even champion/rare Rock Giant packs!). Not only is it a better control than Horrify, it also does a tremendous amount of damage. The wall itself already does 400% weapon damage on multiple targets. Then the rune with +3 creepers (who stay for about 8-10 seconds) do another 75% weapon damage per second, so that's another 400-600% weapon damage.
-I like Zombie Handler more than Bad Medicine, I don't have any problems staying alive. So the pets should get more health and friends (1 extra dog). Especially the 20% extra health for the dogs is important, even now they get one-shotted by a Berserker "über" hit, let alone with your dogs.
Gear wise:
-You do have a lot more DPS than I have. I'm only at 14k while you're at 18k. Instead of that, I do have 9.6k thorns though, everytime a melee mob hits my pets or me, my dps will jump closer to yours and after a few seconds it will jump far ahead. Granted, that only happens if my pets stay alive.
-That's where my life regen jumps in though, I'm sitting at a whopping 1600 life regen, and 650 all res as well. The only thing I'm really lacking: armor. I don't have a shield, which makes my armor a lot worse than yours. Especially my DPS, if I were to replace it.
TL;DR, I think my build is a lot better, more damage output and a lot safer. Although the gear itself of you is better, the choice is, again, in my opinion, a lot worse. You should sacrifice a little bit of DPS (go from 18k to 15k) and get a lot of life regen/thorns. The thorns with your gear will work even better than with my gear. Even with your very low life regen, your pets are staying alive a lot better because of the high armor.
One thing that's worth noting is that Zombie Handler is better than Bad Medicine for pets for sure. So if your primary concern is pets, you want Zombie Handler. Overall though Bad Medicine is probably better because it reduces the damage you personally take.
Zombie Handler is indeed a lot better for your pets, and as long as it is better for them, it's better for you. Why? They keep the mobs off you, so you don't need the -20% damage debuff on them, as they're not hitting you anyway. That is of course, if you're a good player yourself and don't get hit by avoidable damage.
And for those who didn't know, Healing Journey works with Fierce Loyalty, so the pets are getting that regen. Also, thorns is terrible and just a filler stat really. Getting %CC gear isn't fun because you kill things too slow and get frequent enrages, at least I did. You may not die, but the game moves so slow that it just feels awful. This poison summoner build will become really popular when they buff pets I'm sure.
I did not know that, I will change my Spirit Walk to Healing Journey, thanks! I do not agree with your statement on thorns though. I myself have 9.5k as mentioned above, that is easily 10% per hit in Act 2, on the average monster (Hellions, Cultists etc.).
It's not a bad idea to play this build and get used to it + gear for it because when they buff pets it'll be a really good build. You'll be able to stack more damage than you can now. Locust Swarm will be really good vs white mobs still and your pets should be able to tank most enemies with the right gear. Horrify is still somewhat questionable though.
Yeah, pet builds will rock (hopefully) with 1.0.4. Especially with the gear most pet build WD's have already, those items will get VERY expensive once unbelievers start seeing that it's actually a very viable, and more importantly, a very fun build.
I don't think you need life regeneration after the 1.0.4 patch, as long as they make summons scale with vitality.
As long as Fiercy Loyalt passive exists pets will scale better with HPr then VIT. Unless Blizz drop the ball again ofc by making a stat that requires an passive to work worse then a stat that allways kicks in.
I would not expect pets being great outside pet builds.
I'm giving this a try right now as I'm pretty much wanting to get a WD ready and geared for when 1.1 comes out with the PvP stuff! In regards to your companion, would you recommend only just the enchantress or do you personally jump between others?
But using your spec at the moment for leveling is always a lot of fun and enjoyable compared to what most people using.
I don't think you need life regeneration after the 1.0.4 patch, as long as they make summons scale with vitality.
As long as Fiercy Loyalt passive exists pets will scale better with HPr then VIT. Unless Blizz drop the ball again ofc by making a stat that requires an passive to work worse then a stat that allways kicks in.
I would not expect pets being great outside pet builds.
I'm hoping they combine Fierce Loyalty and Zombie Handler!
I'm giving this a try right now as I'm pretty much wanting to get a WD ready and geared for when 1.1 comes out with the PvP stuff! In regards to your companion, would you recommend only just the enchantress or do you personally jump between others?
But using your spec at the moment for leveling is always a lot of fun and enjoyable compared to what most people using.
The only time I use anyone other than the enchantress now is for mf runs (Templar) Ultimately the decision is yours but for this build I find the enchantress offers more than the Templar/scoundrel.
Yes yes yes a million times YES! It was fun to spam dire bats at the start, but it got old real fast. I've switched to this build a few days ago and am loving it a lot.
I just really hope in the patch the new "build diversity" is actually going to be viable because I love trying out new specs and enjoying the game in new aspects.
-The Acid Rain rune helps a lot against all those small pests (wasps in act 2, fallen lunatics in act 3).
Acid Cloud as a whole sucks donkey balls vs all ranged elites and melees with teleport, because they refuse to stay in the poison puddle. Locust Swarm is greatly superior, since it will always do full damage if you cast it, and the difference is big. Pestilence rune is pretty much useless on the elites too. I don't understand why people are worried about white mobs :F Agreed on the Zombie Wall though.
I feel that Fierce Loyalty is a waste of a slot if your character doesn't have thorns. Sharing life regen with pets is not enough to justify using it over Bad Medicine or Zombie Handler. If your pets die quickly, regen won't save them, and if they don't, you'll manage with health orbs.
True, since I've made that post I've tried out Pestilence and it's a lot better. I don't really worry about whites, I just like to finish them off quickly, which is very fast with Acid Cloud.
Kiting is for Demon Hunters!
Already have a tank alt?
Like most Witch Doctors I have played all the different popular builds all the while thinking "this is not how I imagined playing a Witch Doctor". So I said F it, I'll Play the way I want to and to bad if I hit a wall at least I'm having fun! (because you know its a game). Since then I have hardly looked back, This build gave me the spells I was excited to use after seeing the original WD videos Namely Pets and insect swarm. So how far can I/we take this build?
Act1 Complete
Act2 Complete
Act3 Complete - Note:Skipped Ghom for now
Act4 Q2
Updated: 04 July 2012 Added Gear Discussion Video
Updated: 05 July 2012 Added Belial Kill Video
Updated: 14 July 2012 Added Ghom Kill Attempt
Updated: 16 July 2012 Added Co-op Seigebreaker Kill
Updated: 20 July 2012 Added Solo Seigebreaker Kill
Updated: 23 July 2012 Added Cydaea Kill
Updated: 31 July 2012 Added Azmodan Kill
Updated: 31 July 2012 Added Act 3 Gear Update
Updated: 01 August 2012 Added Iskatu Kill
--Max Media Files reached Please check post Number for future videos--
Updated: 08 August 2012 The Act 4 Wall - (Post #27)
--With the pet changes in 1.0.4 this build becomes some what obsolete as we no longer need to invest so heavily to keep our dogs alive. As a result I have discontinued this series. Thanks for all your support and look forward to new and exciting builds in the future!--
Video 1: The Build
http://us.battle.net...UXYT!Zcg!aacYcY
http://us.battle.net...follower#!!0010
Video 2: The Gear
Video 3: Belial Kill
Video 4: Ghom Attempt #1 650-700 res/1350 regen/4.6k armor
Video 5: Seigebreaker Co-op Kill
Video 6: Seigebreaker Solo Kill
Video 7: Cydaea Solo Kill
Video 8: Azmodan Solo Kill
Video 9: Act 3 Gear update
Video 10: Iskatu Solo Kill
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
The 20% damage reduction when you do poison damage: does this reset on every tick of locust swarm or only on the initial hit? We have no idea. Mobs have no debuffs to look at. I'm sure it's testable, but it's probably not worth it.
They don't tank. Most mobs (especially elites) completely ignore them and run right for you anyways. If they aren't tanking; what's the point?
Your pets die at nearly every elite; sometimes instantly on mobs such as: arcane/molten/plagued/etc. This is the only time you really need them. When they are dead; you are nearly ineffective. 2 slots are useless for a period of time that is way too long and when you can resummon, there's no guarantee they will deal any damage before dying again.
The build is very weak on CC's -or- has no escape ability -or- it has no way to spike damage output for elites. I found it very difficult to put 2 pets on the bar (garg and dogs) 2 attacks (single target and aoe) and then get both a good CC and an escape on the bar all at once.
To maximize the pets (ie zombie handler, 20% damage reduction and 20% less damage when you deal poison) you lose spirit vessel. Which sucks. Spirit vessel is probably the best WD survival skill we have.
The build completely falls apart on a boss. They die instantly to most bosses. Gargantuan -might- survive the skeleton king's whirlwind. Might. If you overgear it. All other bosses; dead right when the fight starts.
This is my opinion, but inferno, your pets make your life harder than it needs to be. They block things on the ground you need to see, which can make kiting a bit more difficult. They will also aggro to creatures that you aren't ready to face yet; starting combat with elites that you wish they wouldn't. Followers do this too, but at least there is only 1, not 3/4 dogs and a gargantuan moving all in different directions.
Think about it a different way. When do you need pets? Elites and bosses, right? What do you need them for? Tanking/damage, right? Solve this problem with: fetish army and BBV.
The only way to make dogs viable is to make a build that creates dogs passively (confusion, etc) and then change the button to sacrifice. Of course, the problem here is: you've just lost abilities that are useful on a boss.
Yeah, locust swarm is cool to a point. Locust swarm's weakness is that you have to be so close to mobs to make it effective -and- the game is buggy that sometimes the swarm just won't latch onto anything. And that sucks. But, yeah, those huge kill streaks are bad ass. Until, it hits a goblin and you lose it, cuz it was 2 screens away and you hadn't even seen it yet. :/
I miss that spell; but I've found that running without a true AOE works a lot better. Your best aoe attacks are your CC's (GoD and wall of zombies).
Nice post with lots of valid points. I play this build not because it is "optimal" (maybe not even viable past a point) but because it is fun and I feel like I'm playing a witch Doctor using this build not a weak wizard/barb.
You say around mid act2 is were it hits the wall which is about where I am and starting to feel the struggle, hopefully nothing a few upgrades won't fix.
SK big swing 1 shots most things I will have to go back and re-test haven't done him in awhile, The Butcher - pets survive through without needing to be re-summoned.
As you noted champion packs can be tough but that's the same for all builds? The only ones that give me any headaches are plagued+electrified/molten. Pets take reduced damage from Arcane so these are not an issue and I'm hoping they make all aoe champion damage classed as "environment" so our pets take next to no damage from them (the same as arcane).
Locus Swarm:
Above loving this skill I find without running a CC pet build without some form of aoe your pets get over run before things can die, Locus swarm handles this.
This build is not "the" pet build to take you through inferno this is simply a build I love to play and hopefully some other people get enjoyment out of it to, however with some decent changes in 1.04 (lets hope) I believe this build is easily able to do acts3/4.
P.S
Gear and farming build coming in next few days
Not at all. Act 1 elite groups die within seconds with fetish army (increase size by 3) and BBV (damage up by 30%). you don't even need to kite them around. It's crazy - it's just free loot. In Act 2, this same combo will usually kill 2 or any pack of elites (except shielded or extra health mobs). So it's super effective there too. Sometimes it'll let you kill the entire group without kiting, but not every time. Early in Act 3 (38k DPS), this setup will usually take down 1 of the elites, maybe 2. But my DPS is low for Act 3 - I can feel it.
Even if these are on CD, I have GoD and Wall of Zombies almost always available. Which are great CCs. And, in the worst circumstance, will buy enough time for those other abilities to come off CD and use if necessary.
Also, in Act 2, if you have this combo (FA and BBV), phase 2 of belial ends without him getting any adds out at all. Which makes this fight a million times easier. I finally killed Belial today with this combo - ZK was an unbelievably easy fight too. So I'm pretty stoked.
If you are running with pets, locust swarm (with your passive) is almost mandatory. Maybe acid cloud, but that spell kinda sucks. Locust swarm has, probably, the coolest looking effect in the entire arsenal. If only you didn't have to be so close to shoot it off. :/
1) Could you also post a link to the skill calc with your build? It helps for those of us who want a quick way to see if this is actually new info or not (turned out to be different enough, but still, it bugs mean when people basically just put a link to their YT video).
2) This seems more along the lines of a splinters build. Of course, I guess that's why it's a Poison Summoner. It's not just a summoner, sa you have to do most of the damage yourself.
I might have to try this if/when I get a decent off-hand to allow me t oreplace my current 2hander.
I just love Locust Swarm, from a concept point of view. It's one of my three favorite concept skills, along with Firebomb, and ZB. It's also what I rocked (with firebomb) up till middle of Hell when things started getting rough.
You have 38k DPS. the OP has, I think, 17K. That probably makes a big difference in what is workable.
I wish Blizzard would implement some sort of unlockable "comparison" gear when you beat each act in Inferno. This would give you standardized gear of some average value. That way, when we discussed a build, we could all be comeing from the same place, instead of our opinion being entirely colored by how good of gear we have.
Some thoughts. I think we're going to end up being the best life leechers.
-Video's to come
I passed the first half of my D3 playtime trying to make pets work and inly meded at Act 2. I'm impressed lol i'm your fan.
Ive been doing a somewhat similar pet build, but I add in Legion of Daggers, Bears and BBV (mana). Passives I use VQ, PtV and SV. dogs, garg and legion barrier is unstoppable on just about every pack. Works for me all the way thru act 3.
One thing that's worth noting is that Zombie Handler is better than Bad Medicine for pets for sure. So if your primary concern is pets, you want Zombie Handler. Overall though Bad Medicine is probably better because it reduces the damage you personally take.
And for those who didn't know, Healing Journey works with Fierce Loyalty, so the pets are getting that regen. Also, thorns is terrible and just a filler stat really. Getting %CC gear isn't fun because you kill things too slow and get frequent enrages, at least I did. You may not die, but the game moves so slow that it just feels awful. This poison summoner build will become really popular when they buff pets I'm sure.
The problem I have with it is that your survivability is lower against elites/champions since you only have 2 forms of CC, and sometimes you use Frightening Aspect just for the armor. Also, some affixes / monsters will annihilate your pets with the way things are currently. Too often it feels like you're playing a splinter build with 3 less CC abilities. Now if you could ever get good %CC, survivability and damage, you'd be pretty solid. When I had %CC gear I had really bad damage, was hard to get all 3 of those.
It's not a bad idea to play this build and get used to it + gear for it because when they buff pets it'll be a really good build. You'll be able to stack more damage than you can now. Locust Swarm will be really good vs white mobs still and your pets should be able to tank most enemies with the right gear. Horrify is still somewhat questionable though.
In my opinion this one is a LOT better:
-The Acid Rain rune helps a lot against all those small pests (wasps in act 2, fallen lunatics in act 3).
-Because of the high health regen, I think the "Healing Journey" rune is the wrong way to go. Acid Rain (or locust in your case) is quite expensive, getting 30% mana back is worth a lot more.
-I like the Zombie Wall a lot more than Horrify, if you do it right, mobs will get stuck in the wall, even in the open field. Doesn't matter what kind of mobs (Even champion/rare Rock Giant packs!). Not only is it a better control than Horrify, it also does a tremendous amount of damage. The wall itself already does 400% weapon damage on multiple targets. Then the rune with +3 creepers (who stay for about 8-10 seconds) do another 75% weapon damage per second, so that's another 400-600% weapon damage.
-I like Zombie Handler more than Bad Medicine, I don't have any problems staying alive. So the pets should get more health and friends (1 extra dog). Especially the 20% extra health for the dogs is important, even now they get one-shotted by a Berserker "über" hit, let alone with your dogs.
Gear wise:
-You do have a lot more DPS than I have. I'm only at 14k while you're at 18k. Instead of that, I do have 9.6k thorns though, everytime a melee mob hits my pets or me, my dps will jump closer to yours and after a few seconds it will jump far ahead. Granted, that only happens if my pets stay alive.
-That's where my life regen jumps in though, I'm sitting at a whopping 1600 life regen, and 650 all res as well. The only thing I'm really lacking: armor. I don't have a shield, which makes my armor a lot worse than yours. Especially my DPS, if I were to replace it.
TL;DR, I think my build is a lot better, more damage output and a lot safer. Although the gear itself of you is better, the choice is, again, in my opinion, a lot worse. You should sacrifice a little bit of DPS (go from 18k to 15k) and get a lot of life regen/thorns. The thorns with your gear will work even better than with my gear. Even with your very low life regen, your pets are staying alive a lot better because of the high armor.
Edit:
Zombie Handler is indeed a lot better for your pets, and as long as it is better for them, it's better for you. Why? They keep the mobs off you, so you don't need the -20% damage debuff on them, as they're not hitting you anyway. That is of course, if you're a good player yourself and don't get hit by avoidable damage.
I did not know that, I will change my Spirit Walk to Healing Journey, thanks! I do not agree with your statement on thorns though. I myself have 9.5k as mentioned above, that is easily 10% per hit in Act 2, on the average monster (Hellions, Cultists etc.).
Yeah, pet builds will rock (hopefully) with 1.0.4. Especially with the gear most pet build WD's have already, those items will get VERY expensive once unbelievers start seeing that it's actually a very viable, and more importantly, a very fun build.
As long as Fiercy Loyalt passive exists pets will scale better with HPr then VIT. Unless Blizz drop the ball again ofc by making a stat that requires an passive to work worse then a stat that allways kicks in.
I would not expect pets being great outside pet builds.
I'm hoping they combine Fierce Loyalty and Zombie Handler!
A man can dream
The only time I use anyone other than the enchantress now is for mf runs (Templar) Ultimately the decision is yours but for this build I find the enchantress offers more than the Templar/scoundrel.
Yes yes yes a million times YES! It was fun to spam dire bats at the start, but it got old real fast. I've switched to this build a few days ago and am loving it a lot.
I just really hope in the patch the new "build diversity" is actually going to be viable because I love trying out new specs and enjoying the game in new aspects.
True, since I've made that post I've tried out Pestilence and it's a lot better. I don't really worry about whites, I just like to finish them off quickly, which is very fast with Acid Cloud.