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LoD Spirit Barrage Witch Doctor Guide

Last Updated: January 7th 2024

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Introduction

LoD Spirit Barrage Solo Push
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Spirit Barrage has been a mysterious skill throughout Diablo III's history. The Barber was initially introduced in Season 9, but its first viable build didn't appear until Season 10 when players discovered that Phantasms were considered Pets, which let them benefit from Mask of Jeram, Enforcer, and using Attack Speed as a separate damage multiplier.

After being the top dog in solo and groups in Seasons 10 and 11, LoN Spirit Barrage fell out of relevance due to other builds being buffed. It is only with Season 20 and the addition of Mundunugu's Regalia that Spirit Barrage builds became viable again due to The Barber and Gazing Demise buffs.

Unfortunately, Season 21 brought a significant nerf to the build by removing the ability for Phantasm to benefit from Mask of Jeram and Enforcer. Season 23 further nerfed Spirit Barrage by lowering the Gazing Demise damage multiplier.

While Spirit Barrage is best used with its dedicated Mundunugu's Regalia Set, Legacy of Dreams is an interesting setup choice as it is tankier and allows for more flexibility. Additionally, even though LoN Carnevil dominates on the No Set leaderboard, you can have decent performances with it due to its exceptional scaling with monster density, which however requires a lot of Greater Rift fishing. In Season 27, LoD Spirit Barrage is a serious contender to LoN Carnevil due to the Sanctified Piranhas (Sanctified Haunt). With Season 28, the build gets a slight buff with Manitou dealing more than twice the damage it did previously.

Unlike most others, this is not an Area Damage (AD) build, since all your damage comes from The Barber explosions which cannot proc it. It does replicate it though by redirecting the damage done by Spirit Barrage to all targets within 15 yards. This setup relies on many interactions between Phantasm and Manitou with The Barber, which makes it hands down one of the most complicated builds to fully understand in the entire game (see Mechanics). This guide will steer you through all the mechanics behind Spirit Barrage!

Unique Playstyle ✔
Insane AoE damage ✔
Rewarding Explosions ✔
Rewards Excellent Gameplay ✔

❌ Difficult Execution
❌ Sensitive to Fishing
❌ Complicated Mechanics
❌ Low Single Target Damage

Core Setup

Core Item Build

Items

  • The Barber is the core item behind the special mechanics of the build and gives us a 500% damage bonus to Spirit Barrage.
  • Gazing Demise provides us with a 150% separate damage multiplier, makes Phantasms last twice as long and increases Manitou Attack Rate.
  • Voo's Juicer grants us both The Spirit is Willing and Phlebotomize on top of 60% Spirit Barrage damage.
  • Ring of Emptiness activated by Locust Swarm Pestilence for another 300% separate damage multiplier.
  • Squirt's Necklace is rarely used for Witch Doctors but due to Phantasm accumulation mechanics, it is the most beneficial item for this slot.
  • Belt of Transcendence allows us to get an army of 15 Fetishes at all times that we are going to use as meat shields to reduce incoming damage and protect Squirt's Necklace as much as possible.
  • Stone Gauntlets provide an outrageous amount of mitigation and their negative effect can be fully negated by Ice Climbers.

  • Convention of Elements is another separate damage multiplier, giving you triple damage for Phantasms ticks accumulated during your Cold cycle.
  • Aquila Cuirass and Unity grant us two sources of 50% damage reduction.
  • Lakumba's Ornament provides us with another 70% damage reduction with Soul Harvest Languish which already gives us 15% Intelligence and 50% Armor.

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 Essence of Anguish for the Movement Speed and Cooldown Reduction. For the Rank 3 power take the 50% increased Poison Damage, which actually applies to all damage done! Hint: Make sure to get a Poison Damage Range on your Weapon so it can proc the shard automatically.
  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 either % Damage or Cold Damage to boost our character's power the furthest.
  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

You want to stack damage stats wherever possible, especially Critical Hit Chance and Damage, Attack Speed as well as Cold Damage and Spirit Barrage Damage. Area Damage is useless in this build (and actively avoided in groups including in Paragon Points) as we only deal damage with The Barber explosions. Cooldown Reduction is not really needed as Grave Injustice will do 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 and Off-Hand.

Increased Attack Speed is a good stat as it is a separate multiplier for Phantasms and it helps us out stacking Bane of the Stricken. Manitou does not scale with Attack Speed in any way while Phantasm cast rate depends on Attack Speed Breakpoints when holding down Spirit Barrage, hence it is important to stay away from some Spirit Barrage Breakpoints (see Mechanics).

For toughness, we prioritize Vitality and Elite Damage Reduction on Chest. Phantasm accumulation mechanics require a pretty static playstyle and Manitou grants us a good Life recovery with Phlebotomize. This is why we aim for around 900,000 HP in Greater Rift Solo Push. The next priority would be Armor wherever it is possible, mainly in Chest and Pants sockets using Flawless Royal Emerald if you feel too squishy. Physical, Lightning or Arcane Resistances as a Secondary Affix are generally useful to have as Arcane Enchanted, Orbiter and Mortar Elite Affixes are your worst enemies by a long shot.

While not mandatory, Maximum Mana as secondary Affix is recommended on both Weapon and Mojo as it greatly helps with Aquila Cuirass uptime after casting Locust Swarm or Piranhas. 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
Echoing Nightmare
LoD Spirit Barrage T16

Concept
Spirit Barrage constitutes the best Nephalem Rift farmer for the Witch Doctor class. Spirit Barrage Manitou continuously attacks for you even while you are moving; all the damage multipliers from Gazing Demise and The Barber as well as Squirts Necklace (protected by St. Archew's Gage) provide such a massive damage boost that it's not necessary for you to worry for the accumulation mechanics of The Barber. You can use Phantasms to accumulate extra damage on Elites and Rift Guardian, however while moving Manitou will do most of the work.

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. Use Sacrifice Provoke the Pack before casting Phantasms on tougher enemies like Rift Guardians.

Horrify in conjunction with Rechels Ring of Larceny provides you with an incredible amount of Movement Speed, effectively making you fly through Nephalem Rifts while Goldwrap with Boon of the Hoarder and Avarice Band (on your follower) will grant you invincibility.

Setups
Early in a season, if your damage is too low for Manitou to one shot monsters, going for a channeled rune like Well of Souls, Phlebotomize or The Spirit Is Willing is a good option as it allows you to do single target channel on Elites and Rift Guardians.

In groups, swap out Convention of Elements and Stone of Jordan for The Flavor of Time and Avarice Band and replace Warzechian Armguards and Pauldrons of the Skeleton King with Nemesis Bracers and Homing Pads.

LoD Spirit Barrage Manitou Solo Speeds

Concept & Gameplay
Like in Nephalem Rifts farming, we go for Stone of Jordan as Convention of Elements doesn't really fit in a speedrun playstyle.

As St. Archew's Gage protects our Squirt's Necklace damage multiplier, we can safely use The Witching Hour instead of Belt of Transcendence.

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.

Setups
If you feel too squishy, swap Frostburn with Stone Gauntlets and take back Ice Climbers instead of Illusory Boots.

LoD Spirit Barrage Well of Souls Solo Speeds

Echoing Fury can bring you a nice 25% Movement Speed buff but unfortunately results in a loss of damage and toughness compared to Voo's Juicer, only consider it if you're going for lower Greater Rift tier farming or if you drop Manitou for a channeled rune.

It is indeed possible to go for a channeled rune like Well of Souls, Phlebotomize or The Spirit is Willing to make perfect use of Echoing Fury in the cube. While the damage output is similar and the gameplay is more active, you gain 25% Movement Speed and playing a channeling rune allows you to accumulate on single targets like Elites and Rift Guardians with adds.

LoD Spirit Barrage Greater Rift Solo Push

Concept
This is the setup described in the main sections of the guide. While the potential of this build is pretty high, you must plug-in several hundreds of keys before you get a playable rift to push very close to your GR limit, but once all the stars align it will be smooth sailing.

Gameplay
The most common mistake in this setup is attempting to kill monsters while simply holding down Spirit Barrage continuously. The playstyle requires you to pull several screens of monsters via Locust Swarm Pestilence and herd them via Piranhas Piranhado and afterwards place Phantasms on top of the pull.

You must use Spirit Walk in a well timed fashion, while accumulating, and reset its cooldown immediately via Grave Injustice by manually detonating one of your Phantasms. Getting the above standing rotation and timings down properly is key in terms of damage and survivability. Simply, mindlessly spamming Spirit Barrage will get you killed and significantly decrease your overall damage output. For a step-by-step gameplay description on how you should sequence your skills, check out the "Gameplay" section above.

Setups
At lower paragon, replacing Swampland Attunement with Spirit Vessel is a good option. On the contrary if you feel comfortable with your toughness, go for Gruesome Feast instead of Swampland Attunement. Taking the Templar as your follower instead of the Scoundrel can also fix survivability issues. Finally, swapping Big Bad Voodoo Slam Dance with Ghost Trance can help you a lot as well. And for even more survivability, you can always add more Vitality through Paragon.

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 pushing build with a few tweaks.

Changes

  • Replace Piranhado with Wave of Mutilation to increase the range at which you apply the damage debuff.
  • Swap Bane of the Stricken for Bane of the Powerful since we are fighting hordes of enemies.

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.

Manitou will take care of most enemies on its own until Wave 100, just run around the area. We have awesome Big Bad Voodoo and Spirit Walk uptime as we are constantly killing enemies with Grave Injustice. Put 3 Phantasms on top of each other on the enemies. Try to never touch Spirit Barrage during Spirit Walk, as Phantasms spawned during Spirit Walk won't accumulate damage until Spirit Walk is over!

Video Guide

S10 GR111 World #3 LoN Spirit Barrage Gameplay Showcase

Mechanics

In-Depth Explanation

Spirit Barrage Phantasm & Pets Mechanics

Spirit Barrage Phantasm

Spirit Barrage Manitou

Piranhas Piranhado

Summary

  • Put together the core items and level up the Legacy of Dreams gem.
  • Don't stand still and channel Spirit Barrage.
  • Pulling off the proper rotation around Grave Injustice and Spirit Walk is the key and is incredibly rewarding.
  • Seek out massive monster density and use Locust Swarm to help you pull several screens at once.
  • Detonate your way to victory!

Cheers!

Credits

Written by Chewingnom.

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