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Zunimassa Poison Dart Witch Doctor Guide

Last Updated: January 7th 2024

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Introduction

Zunimassa Carnevil Solo Push
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Carnevil builds and their unique playstyle that revolves around Poison Dart being shot by hordes of Fetishes have been around for the longest time, starting in Season 3. Zunimassa's Haunt got buffed from 5,500% to a whopping 15,000% damage increase in Season 16 but it is only with Season 17 buffing Carnevil and The Dagger of Darts that this build became one of the strongest Witch Doctor (WD) setups in the game.

Carnevil can also be played using Legacy of Nightmares or Legacy of Dreams which allow for way more flexibility in terms of gearing and skill setup choices. Anyways, Zuni Dart is the best setup to compete on the Zunimassa leaderboard if you're willing to do so!

This build enables a completely unique playstyle where you have to manage your Fetishes very carefully in order to wreak havoc on your opponents. Positioning is absolutely critical as only the 10 Fetishes closest to you shoot a Poison Dart when you do, aiming where your cursor is. Let's get into it!

Ranged WD Build ✔
Fast Attack Speed ✔
Unique Pet Playstyle ✔
High Single Target Damage ✔

❌ Very Squishy
❌ Lack of Mobility
❌ Low AoE Damage
Limited Gearing Choices

Core Setup

Core Item Build

Items

  • The Zunimassa's Haunt (6) Bonus is where the majority of our damage comes from, while the Zunimassa's Haunt (4) Bonus grants us a tremendous toughness boost depending on our Fetish count.
  • We add another damage buff with The Dagger of Darts which will also make our Poison Darts pierce targets.
  • Carnevil is the core item that makes this build work as 10 of your Fetishes will now shoot a powerful Poison Dart whenever you do. This, in combination with the Zunimassa's Haunt (6) Bonus, is the main reason why our pets deal all the damage in this particular build!
  • Mask of Jeram increases all Pet damage by 200%. This is an Elemental Damage buff additive with other sources of it (Bracers and Amulet).
  • Depth Diggers gives us another 100% damage boost on our main skill Poison Dart.
  • The Witching Hour is used in every setup for the Attack Speed and Critical Hit Damage which are great offensive stats.
  • Ring of Royal Grandeur helps us to complement Zunimassa's Haunt with Aughild's Authority and other supporting items.
  • On the Jewelry slots, options can include Squirt's Necklace, The Compass Rose & The Travelers Pledge or Convention of Elements.

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.
  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 Carnevil mechanic.
  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

Poison Dart Attack Speed Breakpoints

Make sure to optimize your Attack Speed to reach certain Breakpoints. For this build Attack Speed is one of the most important stat as Fetishes benefit twice from it (see Mechanics).

  1. As Carnevil makes your Fetishes scale with your attacks you want to aim for a decent Breakpoint on the Poison Dart.
  2. Furthermore your pets damage per shot also scales with Attack Speed as a separate multiplier. So even if additional Attack Speed does not give you an extra Breakpoint it is still worth getting it and one of the most important stat!

For the solo setups you do not need any Cooldown Reduction. In speed runs however it makes sense to stack around 40%-50% to keep up Big Bad Voodoo with the help of Grave Injustice.

Assembling the Build

Item Stat Priorities

Gems

Skills

Passives

Paragon Points

Altar of Rites

Follower

Gameplay

Hardcore

Variants

GR Solo Speeds
GR Solo Push
GR Group RGK
Echoing Nightmare
Zunimassa Solo Speeds

Concept
In this setup we focus mainly on Movement Speed as well as Cooldown Reduction. We will have an awesome Echoing Fury and Big Bad Voodoo uptime as we are constantly killing enemies for our Grave Injustice passive. We add Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard combined with Squirt's Necklace for double damage, some additional toughness and insane healing.

That being said, the LoD variant of this build is better at speedfarming, as it is way tankier, can reliably keep Squirt's Necklace and can use Shukrani's Triumph or Thing of the Deep on top of not having to apply the Zunimassa (6) Bonus to deal damage.

Gameplay
Be quick, keep up your toughness buffs and pay attention to Elite affixes as you want to keep up your Squirt's Necklace to maximize damage output. Group on Elites and Spirit Walk as often as you can for unhindered movement and better shield uptime. Always use Piranhas Piranhado before you attack to get your Zunimassa's Haunt (6) Bonus damage bonus!

Setups
If you have trouble with the Squirt's Necklace buff, feel free to swap out Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard for Bane of the Trapped to get a 60% separate damage multiplier. If you do not like the Piranhas Piranhado cooldown based playstyle switch to another spender like Locust Swarm to proc the Zunimassa's Haunt (6) Bonus damage bonus constantly.

Zunimassa Solo Push

Concept
This build mixes toughness buffs from Horrify Frightening Aspect and Soul Harvest Languish with the decent pull ability of Piranhas Piranhado to clear the Greater Rift. We already have high single target damage but still have to add a Bane of the Stricken to kill the Rift Guardian in time. For the highest leaderboards clears you have to fish for a good open Greater Rift with mostly melee monsters like Zombies, Grotesques and Summoners.

Gameplay
Keep up your Horrify Frightening Aspect and Soul Harvest buffs at all times. Try to dodge and keep your distance due to your low toughness. Don't forget to use your Fetishes as meat shield by hiding you behind them, this is a great way to reduce incoming damage! Create huge pulls with Piranhas Piranhado and group them tightly for additional Area Damage and more pierces from The Dagger of Darts. Be aware of your position and the angle at which you shoot your Poison Darts in order to hit as many enemies as possible!

Zunimassa Tanky Solo Push

Setups
If you feel too squishy and struggle to maintain Squirt's Necklace, go for Endless Walk but you will lose Convention of Elements in the process. You can also swap Pierce the Veil with Swampland Attunement for instance.

Alternatively you can swap Aughild's Authority with Pauldrons of the Skeleton King and Lakumba's Ornament which nearly doubles your toughness.

In 2man with a zBarb, swap Pierce the Veil with Gruesome Feast and Piranhado with Acid Cloud Acid Rain or Locust Swarm to not disturb enemies pulling. If you're playing as a Trash Killer in 3man or 4man, replace Bane of the Stricken with Pain Enhancer, Grave Injustice with Gruesome Feast and Piranhado with Acid Cloud Acid Rain or Locust Swarm.

Zunimassa RGK

Concept
This is an extremely squishy group Rift Guardian Killer that goes full offensive mode but is generally outclassed on the RGK Tier List. It is difficult to keep up your Squirt's Necklace buff even with your party members helping out. Of course you have to stick with Bane of the Stricken and pick full damage passives.

Gameplay
In the Rift your job is mostly to survive. Give the Big Bad Voodoo buff to your Trash Killer and provide damage reduction to the entire group by applying Locust Swarm Cloud of Insects to enemies. During the boss fight try to dodge and kite basically everything and use Big Bad Voodoo ideally in combination with a Power Pylon. Recast your Locust Swarm at least every 8 seconds to keep up the Zunimassa's Haunt (6) Bonus.

Setups
You can add in some additional toughness by changing the rune on Big Bad Voodoo to Ghost Trance. Feel free to play with Piranhas Zombie Piranhas instead of Locust Swarm if you prioritize damage over toughness.

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 bad for this game mode. Typically we utilize a Greater Rift pushing build with a few tweaks.

Changes

  • Replace Aughild's Authority with Lakumba's Ornament and Pauldrons of the Skeleton King.
  • 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 Bane of the Stricken for Bane of the Trapped 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.

We have awesome Echoing Fury, Big Bad Voodoo and Spirit Walk uptime as we are constantly killing enemies with Grave Injustice. Try to dodge and keep your distance due to your low toughness. Don't forget to use your Fetishes as meat shield by hiding you behind them, this is a great way to reduce incoming damage! Be aware of your position and the angle at which you shoot your Poison Darts in order to hit as many enemies as possible.

Video Guide

Video Guide

Mechanics

Fetishes & Attack Speed

Zunimassa's Haunt

Carnevil

Mask of Jeram

Fetish Army & Poison Dart Damage

Piranhas Piranhado

Gruesome Feast

Summary

  • Put together the core items and acquire the full Zunimassa's Haunt set.
  • Enjoy the damage burst when Echoing Fury is stacked up.
  • Positioning is crucial!
  • Legacy of Dreams variant is possible with less damage but with more toughness and utility.

This build is fun to play with a good pushing potential but lacks a lot in toughness and consistency. If you want to check out another strong WD build, take a look at the Mundunugu Witch Doctor.

I hope you enjoyed the guide! Cheers!

Credits

Written by Rob with special help from Chewingnom. Contributions by wudijo.
Updated by Chewingnom.

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