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Arachyr Corpse Spiders Witch Doctor Guide

Last Updated: January 7th 2024

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Introduction

Arachyr Corpse Spiders Solo Push
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Spirit of Arachyr has been one of the weakest and most clunky sets in the game for quite some time, being completely outclassed for years. Despite being forgotten, it has been the Trash Killer of choice from Season 7 to 9 using Firebats due to its insane Attack Speed and density scaling.

But Season 25 finally brings us a rework to the (2) & (4) Bonuses of the set in order to create a unique generator playstyle using Corpse Spiders. In addition Corpse Spiders now act as Pets, benefitting from Pet damage multipliers such as Enforcer and Mask of Jeram.

While The Spider Queen's Grasp only got a new damage multiplier, the new Brood of Araneae provides a unique damage stacking mechanic. At the same time, Lakumba's Ornament and Shukrani's Triumph have been reworked, bringing new tools for the Witch Doctors to play with.

During Season 25, Soul Shards with the amazing combination of Dregs of Lies and Sliver of Terror created an interesting burst playstyle for the build. In Season 27, a specific LoD Corpse Spiders setup (see Variants) made it into the spotlight and turned out to be an incredible Rift Guardian Killer. Unfortunately, Season 30 crushed the potential of the build, cutting by more than half the (6) Bonus damage multiplier.

While the build works with Area Damage (AD), since Corpse Spiders can proc it, Arachyr (2) Bonus spread damage mechanic unfortunately does not proc it which makes it a not-so-desirable stat to stack. However the build has an incredible scaling with Attack Speed due to Brood of Araneae and relies on intricate interactions due to Corpse Spiders being Pets (see Mechanics). This build offers a very unique playstyle with a good balance between AoE and single target damage and is a decent all-rounder for all kinds of activities. From now on, you're going to like spiders!

High DPS ✔
Fun to Play
Unique Playstyle ✔
Easy to Get Starter Gear ✔

Lack of Mobility
Positioning is Critical
Frustrating Pet Targeting
❌ Vulnerable to Crowd Control

Core Setup

Core Item Build

Items

  • Spirit of Arachyr provides us with a 25,000% damage multiplier for Corpse Spiders as well as a tremendous 75% damage reduction alongside a Spider Queen and a spread damage mechanic for Corpse Spiders.
  • The Spider Queen's Grasp is purely utilized for its 800% separate damage multiplier for Corpse Spiders.
  • Brood of Araneae provides us with a 100% damage multiplier and another multiplier in the form of a damage stacking mechanic.
  • Mask of Jeram increases all Pet damage by 200%. This effect is additive with Elemental damage on Bracers and Amulet.
  • Depth Diggers gives us another 100% damage boost on our main skill Corpse Spiders.
  • Lakumba's Ornament provides us with another 70% damage reduction with Soul Harvest Languish which already gives us 15% Intelligence and 50% Armor.
  • Ring of Emptiness provides us with a crazy 300% damage buff as long as the target is affected by either Haunt or Locust Swarm.
  • Shukrani's Triumph grants us a 100% additive damage buff while using Spirit Walk which perfectly complements our playstyle.
  • Echoing Fury is used for an insane 75% Attack Speed bonus which double dips thanks to Brood of Araneae.

Season 30 Soul Shards

Soul Shards are powerful socketable items that initially dropped during Season 25 but they are returning for Season 30! There are 4 available for Weapons based on the Lesser Evils, with another 3 for Helmets based on the Prime Evils. They drop at Rank 0 and be upgraded three times with the brand new Hellforge Embers to unlock additional powers, or be used in the Kanai's Cube as Augments. Here's how they progress:

  • Rank 0: Soul Shards begin with a unique static Legendary Power. Creates a Rank 50 Augment.
  • Rank 1: Gives all powers from the normal gems. Creates a Rank 75 Augment.
  • Rank 2: Grants one additional powerful stat. Creates a Rank 100 Augment.
  • Rank 3: Unlocks 1 of 3 bonus Legendary Powers unique to that Soul Shard. Creates a Rank 125 Augment.

Warning: Leoric's Crown and Broken Crown do not work with Soul Shards!

Read our Soul Shards Guide written by Chewingnom for full details on how they work. What you should prioritize on them for Solo Pushing is the following:

  1. The Correct Soul Shard & Rank 3 Power
    The best shards for Solo Pushing are:
    • Helmets: We want to use Sliver of Terror for the massive damage buff from our abilities on cooldown. For the Rank 3 power take the additional Attack Speed and Critical Hit Chance to further boost your character's power.
    • Weapons: We want to use Dregs of Lies for the massive bonus damage to Pets. For the Rank 3 power, go for the stacking Pet Damage effect for another major power boost! Pay attention to Dregs of Lies stacks and use make sure all your skills are on cooldown when they're getting close to 100 in order to pull off a damage burst due to Sliver of Terror and Shukrani's Triumph.
  2. The Rank 2 Stat
    The stats that come from the second upgrade are not equal. Here's what we're looking for on them:
    • Helmets: We want either Main Stat for damage or Melee/Ranged Damage Reduction to survive. Avoid Armor and All Resistance as their stat ranges are far too low compared to the other options.
    • Weapons: We want Attack Speed to boost our character's power the furthest since Mask of Jeram is additive with Elemental Damage and Attack Speed double dips due to the stacking damage effect from Brood of Araneae.
  3. The Stat Ranges on the Rank 1 and 2 Powers
    This is just icing on the cake because the ranges will not make or break your build. Still, look for the Soul Shards with the best stat ranges, especially on the offensive stats.

For the other game modes, other Soul Shards can be used. Check the Variants below to see what's used there.

What about extra Soul Shards? Either salvage them for gems, or upgrade and use them in Kanai's Cube for Augments.

Global Stat Priorities

Corpse Spiders Attack Speed Breakpoints

You want to stack damage stats wherever possible, especially Attack Speed, Critical Hit Chance and Damage as well as Corpse Spiders Damage. Physical Damage is always a decent damage stat but its value is significantly decreased due to Mask of Jeram being additive with Elemental Damage. Area Damage works with Spiders but is not a priority because it does not work with Spirit of Arachyr (2) Bonus.

Make sure to focus on Attack Speed to reach a high Breakpoint. It is the most important stat to stack for this build as Corpse Spiders in combination with Brood of Araneae benefit twice from it (see Mechanics).

Cooldown Reduction is not really needed as Grave Injustice does all the work, especially with some Pickup Radius. It is still a good defensive stat to get on items lacking good offensive options like Shoulders.

Crowd Control Reduction is an incredibly valuable secondary Affix to roll on both Rings, Amulet and Helmet as we are very sensitive to Hard Crowd Control effects and mitigating these will ease up our gameplay significantly. Make sure to get the Primary Affixes locked in before attempting to get CCR though.

Assembling the Build

Item Stat Priorities

Gems

Skills

Passives

Paragon Points

Altar of Rites

Follower

Gameplay

Hardcore

Variants

Nephalem Rifts
GR Solo Speeds
GR Solo Push
GR Group RGK
Echoing Nightmare
Arachyr Corpse Spiders T16

Concept
In this setup we focus mainly on Movement Speed and some Cooldown Reduction. We have awesome Spirit Walk uptime as we are constantly killing enemies with Grave Injustice synergizing with Shukrani's Triumph. We add Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard to protect our Squirt's Necklace for double damage.

Gameplay
Cast Summon Zombie Dogs once at the beginning to create minions for your Fierce Loyalty; simply spam-click Horrify, Spirit Walk and Soul Harvest off cooldown. Locust Swarm Pestilence is automatically cast thanks to Wormwood.

Horrify in conjunction with Rechel's Ring of Larceny provides you with an incredible amount of Movement Speed, effectively making you fly through Nephalem Rifts while Boon of the Hoarder and Avarice Band (on your follower) allow you to pick up Progress Globes instantly.

Setups
In groups, swap out Warzechian Armguards and Ring of Emptiness for Nemesis Bracers and Avarice Band.

Arachyr Corpse Spiders Solo Speeds

Concept
We have awesome Echoing Fury and Spirit Walk uptime as we are constantly killing enemies with Grave Injustice. We take Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard to protect our Squirt's Necklace for double damage.

The idea is to farm a Greater Rift tier where you can comfortably clear within 3 to 4 minutes. The gameplay is simply a sped up variant of the solo push one.

Gameplay
Keep up your Horrify Frightening Aspect and Soul Harvest buffs at all times. Create huge pulls with Piranhas Piranhado and group them tightly for heavy Infest Damage from the (2) Bonus.

Setups
At lower Paragon (below 1,000) Piranhas can be replaced with Summon Zombie Dogs Leeching Beasts for insane recovery. Also feel free to change Confidence Ritual to Spirit Vessel for better survivability.

Select Build Version

Echoing Fury Setup
Arachyr Corpse Spiders Solo Push

Concept
Spirit of Arachyr uses the amazing pull from Piranhas Piranhado and combines it with the strong single target of Corpse Spiders spread through the (2) Bonus. As usual, Grave Injustice grants this setup a nice uptime on all its cooldowns. Bane of the Stricken is not mandatory to kill the Rift Guardian.

Gameplay
Keep up your Soul Harvest and use Spirit Walk to skip bad map layouts, dodge attacks and projectiles, and to perform damage bursts with Shukrani's Triumph. DoT up enemies with your Locust Swarm to ensure the damage buff from Ring of Emptiness is active. Cast Piranhas Piranhado to group up enemies, infest them with the thread between you and your Spider Queen, select your target and start spamming Corpse Spiders. For a step-by-step gameplay description on how you should sequence your skills, check out the "Gameplay" section above.

Setups
At lower Paragon, Piranhas can be replaced with Summon Zombie Dogs Leeching Beasts for insane recovery. On the contrary, at higher Paragon you can replace Horrify with Big Bad Voodoo for more damage. Also feel free to change Pierce the Veil to Spirit Vessel for better survivability. Alternatively, you can replace Echoing Fury with Sacred Harvester at the cost of significant damage.

Select Build Version

LoD Setup
LoD Corpse Spiders Group RGK

Concept
It is also possible to go for a Legacy of Dreams setup to benefit from all the supporting legendaries this build can benefit from. Since The Grin Reaper Mimics seems to benefit from Legacy of Dreams damage multiplier but not from Arachyr (6) Bonus, this build is an absolute beast when it comes to pure single target damage.

Gameplay
In the Rift your job is mostly to survive and give the Big Bad Voodoo buff to your Trash Killer. During the boss fight try to dodge to keep Squirt's Necklace and make sure to keep Spirit Walk for your Physical Convention of Elements cycle.

Setups
You can add in some additional toughness by changing the rune on Big Bad Voodoo to Ghost Trance. At higher Paragon, the Rift Guardian fight should be so short that you can take in Gruesome Feast passive and save some Health Globes before the Rift Guardian spawns.

Echoing Nightmare Setup

Concept
For more information, check out our full Echoing Nightmare Guide and take a look at our Echoing Nightmare Build Tier List and our META post for the best builds and strategies! This build is decent for this game mode. Typically we utilize a Greater Rift speed build with a few tweaks.

Changes

  • Drop Horrify for Big Bad Voodoo to increase damage.
  • Replace Piranhado with Wave of Mutilation to increase the range at which you apply the damage debuff.
  • Swap Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard for Bane of the Trapped since you have Pets and Spirit Walk to keep Squirt's Necklace.

Gameplay

  1. Click Speed Pylon instantly to boost your mobility and dodge Green Meteors.
  2. Around Wave 90, click Channeling Pylon and Power Pylon.
  3. After Wave 100, use Conduit Pylon.
  4. At Wave 122, stop attacking and run to the corner to let the timer run out.

We have awesome Echoing Fury, Big Bad Voodoo and Spirit Walk uptime as we are constantly killing enemies with Grave Injustice. Make sure you infest most enemies for the (2) Bonus spread damage which constitutes most of your AoE damage. To do so, you need to hit them with the Thread between you and your Arachyr Spider Queen. Making a quick circle around the pull while the Spider Queen is in the middle of it is a good way to infest most enemies in the blink of an eye. Remember that you can position her at will by throwing Corpse Spiders at that location. Use Spirit Walk wisely to damage burst with Shukrani's Triumph.

Video Guide

Mechanics

Spirit of Arachyr

Corpse Spiders

Brood of Araneae

Mask of Jeram

The Grin Reaper

Shukrani's Triumph

Locust Swarm

Piranhas Piranhado

Gruesome Feast

In-Depth Season 27 LoD Corpse Spiders w/ Echoing Fury Build Overview

Summary

  • Put together the core items and acquire the full Spirit of Arachyr set.
  • Position your Spider Queen in the middle of packs and circle around your prey to infest them.
  • Stack Attack Speed and use those juicy Oculus Rings.
  • Keep up Soul Harvest at all times.
  • Fight your Arachnophobia with this build!

Cheers!

Credits

Written by Chewingnom.

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