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Support Witch Doctor Guide

Last Updated:January 11, 2024|Change Log

Disclaimer: This guide is the Season 27 Guide for the Support Witch Doctor Build which has been heavily nerfed due to the removal of Season 27  Sanctified Horrify &  Sanctified Haunt Powers.

Introduction

zWD Greater Rift Push
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The support Witch Doctor (usually called the zWD because they do "zero" damage) has been a completely forgotten supporter for quite some time. It was one of the meta supporters back in Season 1 to 3 due to its ability to perma-control monsters with Horrify and Tiklandian Visage on top of its massive damage buffs.

After the addition of Crowd Control Resistance in Season 4, zWD became the most efficient third support in Season 5 and 6 thanks to its incredible offensive buffs that were blowing everyone else out of the water. It however required remarkable understanding of Crowd Control Resistance mechanics and Toad of Hugeness cornerstacking to be grasped at its full potential. Its pinnacle moment in the metagame was a GR130 4man clear that remained unbeaten for almost a year.

Season 7 was a huge letdown for zWD, with absolutely shocking nerfs to all its offensive buffs and even to The Grin Reaper Mimics whose abilities' debuffs were stacking with yours. From this point onwards, zWD has been completely buried and forgotten for all these years.

Season 27 brought a shred of light for zWD by introducing great Sanctified Powers, with Sanctified Horrify granting a 100% additive damage debuff and Sanctified Haunt providing a screen-wide Piranhas pixelpull on top of a Bogadile execute mechanic. Yet, since you can only equip one Sanctified Power at a time, zWD still lags behind the top meta supporters. Anyway it is still a fun build to bring in group to play with friends and have the feel for a build that is a true Diablo III piece of history!

Flavorful ✔
Very Mobile
Easy to Play
Brings Lots of Buffs ✔

❌ Very Niche
Not Very Active
Exclusive to Season 27
Vulnerable to Crowd Control

Core Setup

Core Item Build

Items

  • Mundunugu's Regalia (4) Bonus is incorporated in all versions due to its moving Big Bad Voodoo lasting longer and its 60% damage reduction.
  • Captain Crimsons Trimmings gives an incredible 20% Cooldown Reduction and 20% Resource Cost Reduction along with additional damage reduction.
  • Illusory Boots is a staple, allowing us to move unhindered through monsters and walls for perfect positioning and high mobility.
  • Strongarm Bracers provide 30% additive damage, which can be triggered by Piranhas.
  • Nemesis Bracers to spawn additional Elites on Pylons if nobody else in the group can wear them.
  • Oculus Ring is included in any support setup and provides 85% multiplicative damage to teammates standing within the circle. The effect does not stack with other Oculus Rings.
  • The Flavor of Time doubles Pylon duration, which is especially useful for Conduit Pylon.
  • Ring of Royal Grandeur allows us to equip additional items alongside our sets.
  • Aquila Cuirass grants us a 50% damage reduction buff.
  • Recommended Potion: Bottomless Potion of Kulle-Aid to further assist your party by destroying walls.

Season 27 Sanctified Items

Angelic Crucibles are new consumables that drop anywhere once you're Level 70. Using them on items reforges them into Sanctified Items with Primal Ancient stats, and adds one of three new unique Class Powers listed below. For full details on how they work, check out this Seasonal Guide by Chewingnom!

Let's look at our Class Powers and see how they apply to our build:

  1. The best power for us is the Sanctified Horrify for a 100% additive damage debuff on monsters.
  2. The Sanctified Haunt power is great but we usually have to take Sanctified Horrify to bring enough damage buffs to the party and other Supports such as zBarb will pixelpull monsters for the group. It can be used in some 2man setups or specific speed setups.
  3. The Sanctified Gargantuan power doesn't help us, so go for the one at the top.

Since you can only equip one of them, choosing the right item to craft it on matters! Great candidates are Weapons, Offhands, Jewelry or any item with an important multiplier. With that in mind, we recommend Sanctifying one of the following items:

  • Oculus Ring
  • The Flavor of Time

Global Stat Priorities

Since we are a support class, we don't need any offensive stats like Critical Hit Chance, Critical Hit Damage, Area Damage, or Elemental Damage. Instead we will gather as much Cooldown Reduction, Resource Cost Reduction and Attack Speed as possible. Aim to get permanent Big Bad Voodoo for you and your teammates, which requires a minimum of 67% Cooldown Reduction. Once you hit this CDR Breakpoint, all your abilities have a very low cooldown, hence why Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac is not required at all especially since we have Grave Injustice to help if needed. Resource Cost Reduction (RCR) greatly increases our toughness via the Captain Crimsons Trimmings (3) Bonus. Attack Speed is not mandatory but does help to make your overall gameplay feel smoother.

Assembling the Build

Item Stat Priorities

Gems

Skills

Passives

Paragon Points

Gameplay

Hardcore

Variants

GR Speeds
GR Push
zWD Group Speeds

Concept
Support Witch Doctor is a decent incorporation for Speed Greater Rifts to farm both XP and gear due to its high mobility and its wide variety of defensive and offensive buffs.

Gameplay
Cast Horrify once at the start of the rift, it should be permanent thanks to Sanctified Horrify. Make sure Big Bad Voodoo is active at all times. Don't forget to refresh Manitou every 20 seconds as this is our easy way to apply Iceblink and bodypull to some extent. You ultimately want to be ahead of your group, preparing pulls right before they appear and move on right as everything dies. For a step-by-step gameplay description on how you should sequence your skills, check out the "Gameplay" section above.

Setups
This setup is allowing for a lot of tweaks depending on your group composition and the other support you're playing with. If you do not have Frailty or The Executioner in the party, you should cube it. Thing of the Deep is good to have, but not mandatory once you have 20+ Pickup Radius and are mobile enough to pick up globes, hence the Weapon Cube Slot can be switched at will. Locust Swarm can be swapped for Hex Jinx depending on the type of content you're playing and your group composition.

zWD Greater Rift Push

Concept
In high Greater Rifts, you will generally have a zBarb doing all the hard work in the party and your job will be mainly to buff your group and debuff enemies. You can also do some scouting and bodypulling to help out.

Gameplay
Cast Horrify once at the start of the rift, it should be permanent thanks to Sanctified Horrify. Make sure Big Bad Voodoo is active at all times. For a step-by-step gameplay description on how you should sequence your skills, check out the "Gameplay" section above.

Setups
This setup is allowing for a lot of tweaks depending on your group composition and the other support you're playing with. If you have Frailty or The Executioner in the party, then you can swap your Weapon Cube Slot to anything else, The Burning Axe of Sankis for additional damage reduction for instance. Locust Swarm can be swapped for Hex Jinx or Toad of Hugeness depending on your group.

Mechanics

Sanctified Horrify

Sanctified Haunt

Piranhas + Strongarm Bracers

Summary

  • One of the oldest Greater Rift support builds in Diablo III existence!
  • A niche supporter that unfortunately can't compete with META supports currently.
  • Be aware of Crowd Control Resistance rules!

Cheers!

Credits

Written by Chewingnom.

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