Witch Doctor Impressions: Zulu

“They command ancient magics rooted in the primal powers of life and death, and are adept at summoning fearsome, shadowy creatures. A witch doctor is armed with simple talismans, fetishes, rough carvings… and endless ravening throngs of vengeful spirits set to bring destruction at their master’s command.”

Diablo 3's Witch Doctor class is one of the more novel classes ever made in video games, fulfilling a necromancer-like role without the normal clichés. With spells like Plague of Toads, Firebats and Wall of Zombies, the Witch Doctor’s spells range from eccentric to the ridiculously powerful.

The Witch Doctor video released this week does a great job of showcasing several Witch Doctor spells and their different rune options. For example, the video shows both the Rain of Toads and Toad of Hugeness variants of the Plague of Toads spell. The video also puts a spotlight on the Gargantuan, a massive zombie that the Witch Doctor can call to his side to wreak havoc on large groups of enemies. However, I felt the beta didn’t give me a chance to experience the apparent potential of the class depicted in the video.

The two primary spells the player uses for the majority of the beta (levels 1-11) are Poison Dart and Corpse Spiders. Neither spell made me feel excited in any way. Poison Dart was rather underwhelming and Corpse Spiders failed to feel effective due to its massive ramp-up time prior to the spell doing noticeable damage.

That being said, I think other spells in the beta, particularly Zombie Dogs and Firebats, give the player a better impression of the Witch Doctor than the other two. Firebats was the only Witch Doctor spell in the beta arsenal that made me feel like a badass. There aren’t too many spells in the game that feel as awesome as a continuous bat flamethrower.

Thinking beyond the beta, the class has amazing possibilities, with spells like Spirit Walk, Horrify and Mass Confusion adding massive utility and crowd control. Even Grasp of the Dead, the second spell you ever get as a Witch Doctor, feels ridiculously powerful with its 80% slow rune, and the 20% weapon damage per second it deals isn’t to scoff at, either.

I wasn’t interested in playing the Witch Doctor to begin with, and my experience in the beta further solidified that lack of interest. The spells felt tedious and failed to make me feel powerful, with the exception of Grasp of the Dead and Firebats. Even then, when your most gratifying spell is an area-of-effect slow, I think that says something.  

Based on my experience, the Witch Doctor is still firmly at the bottom of my class to-do list, and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one. Aside from the players who are interested in commanding an army of dead things and shooting animals across the screen, I don’t think the Witch Doctor is going to be even a second choice for many players.