[Delraich]

This article may be worth a read. It talks about a very high control build with poison dart as the main dps.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/5271599319

Having used VQ-based builds and hybrid Dire Bat + Poison Dart/Spiders etc builds from Nightmare to Inferno, I can honestly say that not only is VQ not fun but it doesn't hold up from Act 2 Inferno onwards. Being forced to take 4 spells with cooldowns (most people seem to use Gargantuan and SH + 2 more) and, as I'm sure you'd agree, Spirit Walk means that we only have either Dire Bats or Charging Bears as primary damage spells. Even more problematic, we are given incentive to use cooldown spells simply to put them on cooldown rather than saving them for their utility when the situation requires. So after much testing I've gravitated towards a very different kind of build (though not dissimilar to some other builds that have been posted) and itemization to focus on survivability and sheer single target damage output.

Justification behind this build:

VQ is extremely limiting and reflects poor game design

Any build with a cheap spammable move (Darts, Spiders etc) + Dire Bats is not optimal because either you have VQ and some mana regen which means you should be using Bats exclusively because its sustainable or you don't have VQ and your Bats are only being used for 3-4 casts at the beginning of the fight to clear trash and occasionally after that when mana permits.

Spirit Walk as your only escape is not enough to survive mistakes or unforeseen events while kiting elite packs with over 2mil HP on each mob. 2 slows/quasi-stun + 2 true escapes and Hex is too good.

A Poison Dart only build (such as this) allows you to use Pierce the Veil and maximize dps on bosses to beat enrage timers. Poison Dart's range surpasses all other WD spells allowing you to offscreen attack better.

Pet spells are useless in Inferno - Gargantuan dies instantly. Also, no VQ means no need for Gargantuan for the cd activation.

Charging Bears due to its small range and requiring VQ has no place in Solo Inferno, particularly past Act 1.

The build:

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...kRX!XbW!aacZab

What items you will need to make this build work best, in my opinion:

2 rings with 15% attack speed
Gloves with 15% attack speed
+8-10 mana regen per sec on either Helm or Off hand
Attack speed on weapon (but don't sacrifice weapon damage or good stats such as high Int/high Vit)
+12% movespeed on boots or better

More generally, to do Inferno, you should also have +All resists on as many slots as you can without sacrificing too much Int/Vit.

My stats (important stats highlighted):

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/8...llfulstats.jpg

Focus on Int and Vit. Get a helm with a socket and put +12% life (or better gem). Get the highest dps 1h weapon and OH you can find. I don't recommend using a 2her, because the way in which this build beats VQ-based aoe spam builds is through attack speed. VQ builds don't work well with attack speed unless you get +mana regen on both helm and mojo offhand; they go oom. Not only this, but they are limited by the nature of VQ as I've mentioned. Attack speed is core with this build - not only does it mean your single target dps surpasses VQ builds, but you can get many more shots off while stutter stepping (pardon the sc2) while kiting if you have a fast 1h (1.3 or higher base speed) while stacking Attack Speed. You will be stutter stepping relentlessly; versus affix combinations such as Mortar + Jail, you need to keep as far away as possible for as long as possible.

I feel like saying this again - attack speed is incredibly strong. 15% additional attack speed raises my spreadsheet dps the same amount as equipping a weapon with 100-150 extra damage. It's that good.

The strength of this build lies in its raw single target dps through Splinters + Pierce the Veil backed with short-cd cc spells. I prefer Poison Dart over Dire Bats for single target dps. With Pierce the Veil, each Poison Dart is doing 200-210% weapon damage. This is only slightly less than Dire Bats (and Charging Bears with its small range is useless post-Act 1 Inferno). Even with VQ, you can't use PtV with Dire Bats or Charging Bears, period. Also, Dire Bats has smaller range than Poison Dart which means you can't offscreen attack as well, and the slower travel time on Dire Bats means that you're more likely to miss moving targets (such as elite packs with Speed affix).

Can I take Spirit Vessel over Blood Ritual or Spiritual Attunement? Yes, but I only recommend doing so if you are dying even when using Grasp + Wall combo, Hex/SW/Horrify properly. I take Blood Ritual because the 1% health regen is amazing with 40k hp and you need sustain to deal with reflect damage affix. I would keep Blood Ritual over Spiritual Attunement, simply because mana isn't a problem with this build if you have +8-10 regen on helm or OH, or both. If you don't have either, I wouldn't replace it with Spirit Vessel.

No aoe damage ie dire bats/charging bears? The reason for this is that these spells require VQ. VQ requires 4 spells be on cooldown, which leaves Dire Bats/Charging Bears + Spirit Walk. Any build that keeps Spirit Walk on cooldown for VQ is not viable in inferno - Spirit Walk is an escape cooldown for getting vortex'd, jailed or walled. This means you only have 1 escape card in SW and for 15 secs if anything goes wrong you're dead. Another reason is that real challenge in inferno is elite mobs and bosses somewhat. You don't need AOE for these, except when facing invuln minion elite packs where you can't hit the boss elite with poison darts because the minions block. With this build, it's generally worthwhile to just skip elite packs with invuln minions.

Hex is amazing for dealing with teleporters and for kiting in general. When that elite teleports onto you, he's instantly sheeped before he can swing. This saves you from many needless deaths where you were in the middle of a casting animation while kiting and an elite teleports and 1 shots you. I prefer Hedge Magic over Jinx because Hex generally doesn't last more than 2-3 seconds on any mob in Inferno.

Grasp of the Dead with 80% slow is used as a kiting tool. The slow is extremely powerful and with a short CD you will be spamming this when available to funnel mobs slowly through narrow chokes. In conjunction with Wall of the Dead, you have enough tools for kiting permanently.

Wall of the Dead has 3 uses: aoe damage for trash clearing (minor use), blocking off a path for 5 seconds so you get free dps from the other side (standard use), and 'locking' mobs down essentially stunning them (though they can still cast). To 'lock' a mob down, you have to cast Wall directly underneath them so that they are literally standing on the Wall - this traps the mob. This is really useful when you've just used Grasp to slow some elites down in a choke and then trap the frontrunning mobs just as they're about to move off the Grasp. I prefer the slowing rune but increased wall length is also very good.

Horrify is your 2nd escape card, and I'm surprised more builds aren't using it. With 20sec cd it's almost as good as Spirit Walk. Use it when you get vortexed into a group of mobs or just generally when you get surrounded. Now you won't die when anything goes wrong and Spirit Walk is on cd. It also buys you 4 seconds of free dps when it comes to fighting elites and 4 seconds for your other spells to come off cd.

Why no SH? With Pierce the Veil, I'm at ~20k dps. The more DPS you have, the less valuable SH becomes. To me, 3-4k extra dps doesn't justify the lost utility from having 2 kiting spells (Grasp and Wall) and 3 defensive/escape spells (SW, Hex, Horrify). Yes, you only trade one of these spells for SH, but Grasp and Wall have amazing synergy together, SW and Horrify are mandatory (imo) and Hex complements kiting and is another tool to hedge yourself against death. Keep in mind, SH requires you to be close, and many players seem to initiate with Spirit Walk and SH. Using SW in this way is asking to fail in Inferno. Further, SH offers little to no benefit on the harder boss fights (post-Act 1 Inferno) because you can't get more than 1 stack.

No Jungle Fortitude? Why not use a shield? Believe me, I've tried purely defensive builds reaching 500 all resists and 45k hp, with Jungle Fort and using a shield. Act 2 mobs still killed me if they were hitting me for more than 2 seconds. Mortar still 3 shot me. Avoidance is far more important than mitigation in Inferno. DPS output is also extremely important in Inferno. Mobility is, probably above all, the most important factor.


What about sustain? What about the healing from SH Siphon rune? Granted, being backed into a corner and having SW and SH come off cd, allowing you to safely run through the enemies while healing 10k from SH is good, but it's not that important. You could replace SH heal with a pot. Or, you could use Horrify to get out of that sticky situation. Or you could Wall them and lead them to one side and escape by going the other side. Hex with Hedge Magic is used for sustaining against reflect damage mobs. We also take Blood Ritual because it offsets Pierce the Veil mana cost increase and the 1% regen with 40k life is 400/sec which is nothing to scoff at.

If you're going for single target dps, why not use 'ultimate' spells like Big Bad Voodoo or Fetish Army? I prefer having 6 short-cd spells which I am able to use constantly. It just feels more 'secure' and less risky when I'm kiting an elite pack for 3-5 minutes. Secondly, being constantly on the move and kiting means that Big Bad Voodoo is not very useful (when solo) and Fetish Army requires you to be rather close as well. Thirdly, dps isn't an issue for bosses (as bosses in Inferno are rather easy compared to some affix combinations on elite packs) so these ultimate spells aren't required when going solo.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading my guide. Though Poison Dart-based builds are common, hopefully I've provided some insight into my particular playstyle which has been successful so far.

edit: Quite a few people have asked about taking Spiritual Attunement when mana doesn't appear to be an issue. With ~35 mana regen + Blood Ritual + Spiritual Attunement and the attack speed items mentioned (+45%) I have found it possible to see a net loss in mana over time if you're under heavy pressure and using cooldowns when they're ready, and spamming Poison Dart at all other times. Under low pressure situations it's normal to be sitting at max mana because you'll probably be casting Grasp and just spamming Darts and things will die. Spiritual Attunement is the least important of the 3 passives so you could take Spirit Vessel or Jungle Fort/Bad Medicine, or as some have mentioned, Sycophants.

edit: Dealing with fast mobs that are difficult to kite with 80% Grasp and all the other tools. In most situations of this kind, the solution is more DPS. Clear and secure a narrow corridor where your Wall can block entirely in more than 1 place. Pull the elites, Wall trap, spam Darts for 5 seconds. Then Grasp when Wall is about to finish, spam more Darts, hit Horrify when they get close and spam Darts for 4 seconds, then SW and run through them to the other side. Continue running - Grasp should be up soon then Horrify/SW at around the same time. Horrify again and Dart spam for 4 sec, then SW through (they should go to your ghost) then Wall trap and Dart Spam. I'm sure you get the gist. If this isn't working, you probably need more DPS. With the Wall/Horrify CC combo and Grasp in between you can get a decent amount of free DPS at a time. Hex also buys some free dps when 1 elite outruns the others.

One caveat though; Jail/Wall makes this a lot more difficult. Mortar + Jail/Wall makes it nearly impossible, so I recommend skipping these. Be prepared to pull elites very far away from where you found them to a pre-chosen location where you can do this properly.

Quick Comments

	nirvAnA:
	Jaywalk:	this build is actually badass ive found in testing!

[Jaywalk]

very interesting, im going to run that build today and see how it goes. I would say that vision quest is definitely not required to make dire bat builds work though, i'm not sure why everyone thinks that's the case...

in my experience i have never been able to just stand in one spot spamming bats, so mana is not an issue. I am constantly kiting, getting off a bat here and there, and eventually grinding a pack down. Maybe its because everyone is taking "pierce the veil" which i also don't think is required.

I think with this build http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...dUX!ZXV!aaZZZb
you have a heal, 2 escape spells and a slow, and u can get 5 stack harvest bats easily.

im not in inferno yet, but ill see how it fares as i get closer

[TABottles]

I have a feeling that my Gargantuan won't hold up for too long - maybe i'll drop him in hell. :'(

[Delraich]

For those of you going with grasp of the dead, I read something of the forums that I wasn't aware of before. If you put the damage rune on this spell (groping eels) it gives you a damage boost as a % of weapon damage. But... bum bum bum... did you know that weapon speed can change what it says on the tooltip?

Quick Comments

	nirvAnA:	omg incredible find!
	TAavanar:	never knew that, thats really cool
	BearPack:

[neon]

oh SC2SEA still here eh! been missing playing d3, hit 60 last night on my WD, at work now so I thought I'd see what the latest is, glad there is a WD thread !

I change my build all the time for various things but I think I'll go a glass cannon type build to start with for inferno such as -

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...RkX!WeV!aaaaZb

Mouse 1 - Poison Dart - Splinters

with Increased attack speed this move really starts to put out some dps !

Mouse 2 - Grasp of the Dead - Unbreakable Grip

really handy for slowing down the mobs and splitting up groups a bit

1 = Spirit Walk - Jaunt.

3 seconds just gives you that bit more time to get away and also more time for other abilities to come off cooldown

2. = Hex - Hedge Magic

A great CC vs small packs of elites/champions as well as heal, very handy.

3 = Wall of the Dead - Unbreakable Grip

Another good CC but also Damage, kiting will be quite important, though I might change this for Medusa Spiders as they attack around corners and can show you when monsters are just off screen with their movement and have a decent slow rate, with fast attack speed lots of spiders very fast, and they look cool !

4 = Horrify - Face of Death

I'll mess around with a few runes on this but I think Face of Death considering I'll die in 1 hit to most things when spirit vessel is off cooldown.

So yeah, going to kill the end boss in hell and start inferno when I get home ! can't wait, but I have to.


I was skeptical about the WD for some of my leveling due to pets getting useless and even last parts of hell I felt my AOE was quite weak (apart from Zombie Bears, omg op!) Didn't really like the idea of Vision Quest as 4 moves on CD leaves not a lot of room for defensive options and is quite limiting!

[neon]

The most used runes for each class at level 60 are Barbarian: Best Served Cold, Demon Hunter:
Lingering Fog, Wizard: Mirror Skin, Monk: Peaceful Repose, Witch Doctor: Numbing Dart

Do any of you use numbing dart ? I've not really tried it and surprised this is on the list !

[Delraich]

Originally Posted by neon

3 = Wall of the Dead - Unbreakable Grip. Another good CC but also Damage, kiting will be quite important,

though I might change this for Medusa Spiders as they attack around corners and can show you when monsters are just off screen with their movement and have a decent slow rate, with fast attack speed lots of spiders very fast, and they look cool !

Did you try the spiders in the end? I have just got to hell difficultly last night and haven't played much yet at this level. The long cool down on the wall doesn't really appeal to me that much (although I might need to get over it soon), so if there is another option that would be good to know.

Originally Posted by neon

I was skeptical about the WD for some of my leveling due to pets getting useless and even last parts of hell I felt my AOE was quite weak (apart from Zombie Bears, omg op!)

I am only level 50, so I need 4 more levels before getting zombie bears. I will definately try it out just to see what all the fuss is about. Sounds like a bit of a novelty item though... or maybe not.

Originally Posted by neon

Didn't really like the idea of Vision Quest as 4 moves on CD leaves not a lot of room for defensive options and is quite limiting!

I haven't tried this out yet and the concept just doesn't appeal to me. I will probably have a go at this at some point though.

Originally Posted by neon

Do any of you use numbing dart ? I've not really tried it and surprised this is on the list !

I got splinters and never looked back. Splinters plus increased attack speed is just so cool. I like the sound effect too. I did try the mana ability and it went "foo"..... 4 days later...."foo".... make a cup of coffee.... "foo" and I was like... bugger this and switched immediately.

Quick Comments

neon:

foo...

[neon]

Originally Posted by Delraich

Did you try the spiders in the end? I have just got to hell difficultly last night and haven't played much yet at this level. The long cool down on the wall doesn't really appeal to me that much (although I might need to get over it soon), so if there is another option that would be good to know.

Firstly, I didn't read all the posts in the thread before reading yours so I didn't realise that your build was basically exactly the same, so I apologise for that!

Secondly, I did try out spiders and found that they are good vs smaller numbers of monsters however whenever you get the really fast ones that are everywhere, such as the IMP's in act2, I find wall to be a lot better as you need to basically stop them to have time to cast your other CC's as they peel off the wall.

I think they are quite good in some situations and for soloing inferno on some levels you could get a lot of mileage out of them, however for the content I'm currently trying (act 2 inferno) not quite working for me, that and it feels weird to hold a button to attack in diablo (a non mosue button) (as I bound them to number 4) so that was odd to get used to aiming and pressing 4. However I'm very glad I'm not having to press f1-f9 to change what skill I'm casting !

[Delraich]

I have done a bit more reading to see what instant cast aoe options the witch doctor has that doesn't involve cool downs. I basically haven't read anything too inspiring to suggest my acid cloud is going to be viable for much longer and I don't want to be relying purely on darts and CC if I don't have to. I came across this spell which seems really cool. Spirit barrage with the Phantasm rune. Spirit barrage is a single target damage spell that deals 190% weapon damage for 108 mana and the rune does 45% aoe around the spirit it leaves behind for 5 seconds. You can spam these spirits around the place to cover lots of area. I am not sure if the damage stacks if you put them on top of each other. I only just got to hell difficulty and I went from Tristram up to the first way point and it seemed really easy going with this spell. Why not try and out and say what you think of it? The other option I am thinking of taking (instead of the wall) is the haunt with the grasping spirit rune on it (slows enemies by 30%).

[Delraich]

Here is another good article I found on the Diablo 3 forums http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/5149014804:

I am a Witch Doctor known as Hesterry. I have soloed all of Diablo 3 since normal, all the way through Inferno Diablo.

I am not an amazingly good player by any means – decent, I would say – my internet connection is “meh,” and my gear is only “reasonably good.” My point is this:

If I can solo Inferno as a Witch Doctor, so can just about anyone. I hope to illustrate how, for all who are interested.

NOTE: I am strongly considering righting similar guides for every class. Each guide will take roughly two weeks (to level, gear, and write the guide). Please post or message me in game with your thoughts on whether I should do this, and whether you'd find such guides useful. If there are other high-quality guides for other classes, please let me know as well, so I can decide whether it's worth the time investment or not. Thank you!

The Purpose of This Guide

While I could write a guide on how to magic find effectively, blah blah blah... I'm going to avoid doing that, as I'm sure there are already tons of such guides that are better than I could write. Instead I'm going to focus on progression – how to get to Act 4 as quickly as possible. Therefore, I will talk very little on the concept of MF, how to fight elite packs (as they can be run past), and so on. Though, if there are enough requests for it, I may add a small section to each Act on farming recommendations – but I will NOT go in-depth.

Why not just farm as you go, or farm the easier/earlier Acts/bosses? Interestingly, this has the same answer as why you would want to farm such things – the loot. Blizzard has stated that each subsequent Act has a higher tier of loot. In other words, Act Four Inferno has better loot than Acts one, two, or three of Inferno. So, by getting to Act 4, and learning to farm it somewhat efficiently, you will be getting better, more valuable loot than you would by farming the earlier Acts.

Thus, progression in Inferno > farming – at least until you hit Act Three or four, with very few exceptions.

Doing What Works for You

A lot of people seem to be misunderstanding the purpose of this guide, thinking that I'm trying to provide "absolute" information. This is not correct! I'm just trying to provide one method that I know works. It's important that, no matter what anyone else tells you - noob or pro - that you always do what works for you. Even if I recommend something in this guide, it doesn't mean it's for everyone! If you find something that works better for you, use it! This guide is just here to give a baseline - it's not the end-all be-all.

"Copying a pro doesn't make you good - finding your own way does. Pros don't get good by copying other players. They get good using their own methods and creativity." -Yours truly

Notes on Builds and Gear

First of all, let me state that some of this guide I didn't think up entirely on my own – much of it I have, but a fair bit of this is just a compilation of other people's information. As such, I'll try to give credit where it is due, but I apologize if I miss some people.

With every Act/boss, I'll post an optimized build and an optimized gear set, or at least recommended stats. Of course, going with a build you're comfortable with is almost always more important than following other people's recommendations. That said, I highly recommend you try what I recommend if you're having difficulty. I also highly recommend changing builds as needed, and totally ignoring the Nephalem Valor buff until you get to the Act you want to farm. Again, progression first, farming later!

Also note that most of my builds are a splinter/kiting build that I discovered thanks to Spellful. For more information on how to use this build, go here:

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/5271599319

Last, until you get to Act Three with the stats I recommend for it, spend all of your gold on gear. The increase in income from Act One to Act Three or four through selling loot on the auction house is tremendous, but you need the gear to clear the later Acts even close to efficiently. Sitting on a million gold does nothing for you – spending it on gear lets you get more gold faster in the long run. Don't save unless you have to for a specific piece of gear!

VQ Bears vs Splinter Kiting

05/21/2012 09:11 PMPosted by Spellful
VQ is extremely limiting and reflects poor game design

In a nutshell. Though, of course there is much more to it than that... Some of which I discuss below - the rest of which can be read in Spellful's post (link above).

VQ Bears are amazing in Act One Inferno and earlier because it clears packs of enemies extremely fast, and the damage difference between Act Four Hell and Act One Inferno is minimal. Thus, I do recommend VQ Bears for most of Act One (and Rakanoth, which I explain in the Act Four guide). However, once you hit Act Two, the damage enemies deal is quadrupled (or more!), and many monsters are fast and ranged - you simply won't be able to catch up to them with VQ Bears.

Also, since bears are mana intensive, you want to use a slow two-hander (see 1H+OH vs 2H below), which directly affects your casting speed. If you take a full second (or more) to cast a single wave of bears, you are just asking to be killed by Lacuni Huntresses, wasps, and mortar enemies, which all will pretty much one-shot you. Splinters, however, actually offer similar single-target damage, with minimal casting delay, and about a full screen of range. Therefore, in most cases, splinters > bears post Act One Inferno. Not because they do more damage, but because you'll save more time by not dying, than you'd save by killing things faster with bears. That said, if you really want to keep going with a VQ build, I highly recommend you at least change bears for dire bats for the range.

On the topic of 1H+OH vs 2H weapons

The reason you want attack speed with splinters (and thus, a fast one-hander) is because it shortens your cast animations - not just for the bonus damage. By shortening cast animations, you can move, cast, then move again in a much shorter period of time. What kills players quite often in Act Two and beyond is being hit by ranged attacks during an attack animation, such that they're unable to dodge. Personally, this absolutely infuriated me when I died ten times in minutes to wasps right at the start of Act Two.

On the other hand, the reason you generally don't want to do this with VQ bears is because you'll burn out your mana pool in seconds, as you'll be casting the bears faster. If you use a slow two-hander with VQ bears, your damage will be about the same, but the mana cost will be far lower. The one exception for this is Rakanoth, where you use Big Bad Voodoo with Rain Dance for sustain.

Vitality vs Resist and Armor and How to Calculate Them!

This comes down to preference again, and what you can afford. Technically speaking, it's better to have low health and high resist and armor with the same effective health as a build with high health, but low resists and armor. This is because healing between (or during) fights is easier, and requires fewer regeneration mechanics to get back to full life. Keep in mind though, that armor and resist have diminishing returns (giving less mitigation the more you get), whereas vitality does not (one vitality = 35 health at level 60, always)

However, a number of monsters are currently bugged, and they ignore mitigation from resist and armor. I'm not sure about which monsters are bugged, but I do know that one of the more significant ones are the Lacuni Huntresses (the mini-mortar monsters) in Act 2. If you do opt for low health and high mitigation, be aware that some monsters will totally ignore your defenses, until they get patched!

Now, how to calculate!

If you want to know how much mitigation resists will give you after a potential upgrade, heres how you calculate it.

r = TOTAL resist (after the upgrade)
m = mitigation

r / ( r + 300 ) = m

In English, resist divided by resist plus three hundred. So, if you have 200 resist...

200 / ( 200 + 300 ) = m
200 / 500 = m
m = 0.40

Just multiply by 100 to get the percentage. Thus, 200 resists give 40% mitigation. Lets do it one more time, with 300 resist

300 / ( 300 + 300 ) = m
300 / 600 = m
m = 0.50

Thus, 300 resists give 50% mitigation. The same goes for armor, just an extra zero.

a = TOTAL armor
m = mitigation

a / ( a + 3000 ) = m

So with 2500 armor...

2500 / ( 2500 + 3000 ) = m
2500 / 5500 = m
m = 0.454545...

So 2500 armor gives 45.45% mitigation.

Next is how to calculate your effective health. This is a little bit more complicated. To start, take one component of mitigation. Determine the damage you would take (100 minus your percent of mitigation), then divide 100 by that number. Multiply that by your current health.

Lets say I have 40k life, with 3000 armor, giving me 50% mitigation, so...

100-50 = 50
100/50 = 2
40,000 * 2 = 80,000

So, 80,000 is my effective health. Lets do it again... 35k life, with Jungle Fortitude (20% mitigation)!

100-20 = 80
100/80 = 1.25
35,000 * 1.25 = 43,750

Thus, my effective health is 43,750. When calculating multiple sources of mitigation, just tack all the numbers together by multiplying. Lets say I have 45k life, 300 resist (50% mitigation), 2500 armor (45.45% mitigation), and Jungle Fortitude (20% mitigation.

Resist: 100-50 = 50. 100/50 = 2
Armor: 100-45.45 = 54.55. 100/54.55 = 1.83
Jungle Fortitude: 100-20 = 80. 100/80 = 1.25

So...

45,000 * 2 * 1.83 * 1.25 = 205,875

Thus giving me roughly 206k effective health. And that's how you calculate resist, armor, and effective health. Enjoy!

Mercenary

I've tried all of the mercenaries, and here is what I've found...

The Scoundrel doesn't do anything worthwhile in my experience, so I'm not even going there.

Enchantress seemed like a good choice for a while. However, after some time I noticed that she actually polymorphed me. At first, this seemed hilarious - until it got me killed on an elite pack in Act Two. Sacked her and settled once again on...

The Templar! With decent gear, he can actually take some hits. Additionally, his stun is useful against a number of monsters (worms, soul lashers, phase beasts, etc), particularly when coupled with Hex and other CC. His heals aren't bad either. Sure, he'll die, but he's still better than the other choices in my opinion. For his abilities, I chose Heal, Loyalty, Charge, Guardian. My Templar currently has 47k HP, 2300 Armor, and 1260 Damage

General Witch Doctor Notes

Spirit Walk - It may not have been apparent in lower difficulties or Inferno Act 1, but it's important to know the weakness of this ability. When you pop Spirit Walk, a dummy spawns in your place. Sometimes (but not always) monsters will go for it. If it dies (and it dies pretty fast) you immediately come out of invulnerability. Against AoEs, this can make Spirit Walk totally useless. Always, ALWAYS, try to move away before Spirit Walk, or pop it early enough that you can make an escape before it gets damaged - for example, against desecrate with jail, pop it after being jailed, BEFORE being desecrated.

Wall of Zombies - First and foremost, always use this ability with Relentless Grip. The slow will keep enemies from running right past it. Also, it does MASSIVE damage if placed directly on an enemy - literally doubling your dps - which can be amazingly useful on slower bosses, such as Ghom and Azmodan, as well as elite packs. I've found that the best way to use this is to kite monsters (particularly elites) to a choke, slow with Grasp of the Dead, then drop Wall of Zombies directly on the front-most monster as they're about to leave Grasp. Also, be aware that some particularly large or hovering monsters can walk over it - this includes many (but not all) bosses.

My Gear

A number of people have asked me for my gear, so I'll post it here, with my exact (relevant) stats. Note that I used a different set for Diablo, which I'll list later on. My gear as of 6/5, 4:00pm PDT:

Overall Stats:

Strength: 349 (349 Armor)
Dexterity: 189 (12.23 Dodge)
Intelligence: 1330 (133.0 Resist All)
Vitality: 1048 (44347 HP)
Armor: 2563 (46.07%)
Damage: 28523.04

Physical Res: 271 (47.46%)
Cold Res: 299 (49.92%)
Fire Res: 271 (47.46%)
Lightning Res: 289 (49.07%)
Poison Res: 307 (50.58%)
Arcane/Holy Res: 271 (47.46%)

Helm: 339 Ar, 66 Str, 79 Int, 58 Res All, Socket: 12% Life
Shoulders: 241 Ar, 56 Dex, 67 Int, 118 Vit, 17 Res All
Torso: 308 Ar, 74 Str, 71 Int 143 Vit, 36 Psn Res, Sockets: 34+34 VIT
Bracers: 160 Ar, 66 Dex, 132 Int, 71 Vit, 28 Cold Res
Gloves: 220 Ar, 125 Int, 45 Vit, 18 Lit Res, 15% Atk Spd
Belt: 257 Ar, 73 Str, 72 Int, 63 Res All, 8% Life
Pants: 314 Ar, 69 Str, 89 Int, 163 Vit
Boots: 375 Ar, 61 Int, 79 Vit, 12% Movespeed
Ring: 67 Int, 15% Atk Spd
Ring: 67 Int, 14% Atk Spd
Amulet: 111 Int, 15% Atk Spd

Weapon: Ceremonial Knife, 234-835 Damage, 1.4 APS (748.3 DPS), 118 Int, 85 Vit, 13 Mana Regen
Mojo: 89-299 Damage, 84 Int, 149 Vit

Hope that helps!

Special Thanks

Spellful - For being the first one to show me a good guide on the use of Splinters and kiting
Dom - For making me do math (you jerk!)
Darnusmarkreevus (of Youtube) - For the Rakanoth guide
OneNoteChord - For providing a gear set that makes Diablo possible without hitting his enrage timer, while stilling having excellent effective health!

Act One

Recommended Builds

Splinters with 1-Hander with a Mojo and attack speed items
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...kRX!XbW!aacZab

VQ Bears with a slow 2-Hander
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...XdT!cZU!cZZbZY

Recommended Stats

Damage: 10,000
Health: 30,000
Armor: 2000
Resists: 120

-----------------------------------------

Getting to the Butcher should be fairly easy with either of the above builds, provided your stats are reasonable. In fact, it should be so easy, there is very little I can say. However, understand that if going from Act Four Hell to Act One Inferno is roughly a 20% increase in difficulty, going from Inferno Act One to Act Two is going to be a 50% increase. Arbitrary numbers, but the concept is what's important.

What this means is, unless you have about a million gold, or a million and a half, on hand to spend on gear upgrades, expect to farm up a fair bit of gold in Act One - this is the only time I'll tell you to go out of your way to farm. The way I did this was by starting at Quest Three Part Two (Northwest Gate) and clearing everything to Leoric, killing him, then resetting. This can be done with worse than recommended stats, so if your stats don't meet this requirement, farm Leoric as I've recommended, or farm the Heart of Sin through Azmodan in Act Three Hell.

As a point of reference, I spent about a week in Act One Inferno, even though I had killed the Butcher about three days in. This should be the longest you spend in any act in Inferno, as the gear jump from Act One to Act Two is fairly large.

-----------------------------------------

Leoric

Leoric is a joke, really. Just avoid his attacks and pay attention to when he goes invisible/ethereal. If you're moving when he does this, chances are he's not going to hit you as he reappears. Even if he does, as long as you have the recommended gear, he shouldn't one-shot you, and you should have plenty of time to back away and heal up.

For a faster clear with the splinter build, I highly recommend dropping Horrify for Soul Harvest with Siphon, and Hex for Haunt with Resentful Spirit. Note that you can burn your mana out really fast with Haunt, so only use it when it's needed – don't spam it for the Resentful Spirit damage!

If you're going VQ Bears, Just be precise in your positioning and range, so he can't randomly turn around and bash your face in with the scary mace, but at the same time you're hitting him with at least two bears in each volley.

-----------------------------------------

The Butcher

Recommended Builds

Splinter Variation
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...kRe!XVW!aacZaZ

VQ Bears Variation
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...PQT!cZU!cZZbZY

Recommended Stats

Damage: 15,000
Health: 40.000
Armor: 2000
Resists: 150

Pre-Notes and Abilities

The Butcher can be a tad tricky due to his enrage timer (about five minutes) when he sets everything on fire – thus I recommend higher damage. The above stats should suffice if you are aggressive enough with your attacks, but if you're still having trouble, shoot for 18-20k damage. Note that VQ Bear damage will be somewhat lower than Splinters due to Pierce the Veil – this is normal, and shouldn't be a problem, as bears get a higher damage coefficient, and multiple bears should be hitting The Butcher anyway (since he's so damn fat).

Strategy wise, he's quite easy. He has five main abilities:

Charge – He'll rear up and shoot out a red line. Note that with the way Spirit Walk works, you won't be saved by it unless you run into him, or manage to get out of the way with the movement speed boost it gives.

Rake – He shoots out a cone of bladed chains. This ability often follows his charge, and sometimes his ground slam – rarely other abilities. Since Spirit Walk generally doesn't work against this ability, the only way to practically avoid this is to back up right as he's using another ability, then move back in afterwards. This can provide some issues if you're using VQ bears, but your mitigation should be so high from passives, armor, and resists, that it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Ground Slam – Broadcasted by him bouncing up and down. Incredibly easy to avoid, and gives an amazing opportunity to get some damage in.

Hook Shot – Broadcasted by him pointing in a direction with his cleaver. Another fairly easy dodge, though the hitbox can be fairly large, and with server lag, it can grab you when it seems shouldn't. So kite in an arc around him, and make sure you kite farther than you feel you need to. If he does grab you, pop Spirit Walk to avoid his followup attack.

Fire – Technically this isn't his ability, it's an environmental one of the arena he's fought in. This does no damage to him, but it will absolutely destroy you. Just look for a panel on the ground turning orange, and avoid it. Pay particularly close attention if he's standing in it. If he pulls you into the fire, you're probably dead – Spirit Walk will NOT save you!

Strategy

There isn't a whole lot to say for The Butcher. Stick to kiting in semi-circles to avoid Charge and Hook Shot, occasionally backing up to avoid Rake. If you avoid most of his abilities, hit him at every reasonable opportunity, and use the healing shrines efficiently, he should be fairly easy. Though, don't get depressed if it takes a few attempts in order to get an idea for his enrage timer, as well as the timing on his abilities.

Random Tip: Wall of Zombies will stop his charge. If you see him about to charge, pop a wall and continue your damage!

Act Two

Recommended Builds

Splinters with 1-Hander with a Mojo and attack speed items
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...kRX!XVW!aacZab

Recommended Stats

Damage: 20,000
Health: 35,000
Armor: 2000
Resists: 200

-----------------------------------------

Act 2 is hell on wheels – almost literally. Nearly everything moves extremely fast, doing ridiculous amounts of damage. Unfortunately, this makes VQ Bears highly impractical. The wasps alone will make it a nightmare to try to kills things – the bears' range is simply too low, and the casting delay from using a slower weapon makes it impossible to dodge. Thus, I highly recommend using the splinter build.

Using splinters, however, should make the act pretty darn easy. Slow, perhaps, but easy. Everything should be killable, and you should be able to take a few hits here and there, dramatically reducing your number of deaths. Stutter step to victory!

-----------------------------------------

Maghda

I'm not even going to bother going into a build, stats, or her abilities and such – this boss is far too easy to bother. Just stay at long range to avoid the flies, and save your CCs for the minions she spawns. Keep in mind that she is invulnerable while her minions are out, so you have to kill them first. The only reasons you should ever die to her are: a) Extreme lag, or b) Blatant human error.

-----------------------------------------

Zoltun Kulle

Pre-Notes and Abilities

He's fairly easy, although I admit it did take me a few tries. His abilities are as follows:

Minions – He has two that start with him, but they're fairly squishy if you're soloing. Kite them, trash them, move on.

Slow Bubble – He occasionally drops a bubble that slows you if you're inside it. Never, ever stand in it. If he tosses a fire ball or drops rocks on you, you won't be able to get out in time. Just avoid it, or immediately walk out of it if he drops it on you.

Falling Rocks – Occasionally he'll drop some rocks on you from the ceiling. This is broadcasted by the screen rumbling for a moment before they begin to fall. If you aren't already on the move, this can be tricky to dodge. Spirit Walk may or may not save you, so stay on the move!

Fire Ball – Broadcasted by a shout and burning sound. A fairly easy dodge if you remain moving. It does move kind of fast, but he always seems to shoot it exactly where you're standing – not a whole lot of motion prediction going on. Again, staying on the move will pretty much make this ability moot.

Tornadoes – These are again more of an environmental effect, and they just pop up randomly in the arena. They move slowly, but do a ton of damage. Just be wary as you kite around the ring.

Strategy

His abilities to tend to move quickly, but he doesn't really try to predict your movements. Never, stop, moving. Kite in circles, keeping him off screen, or on the very edge as much as possible. If you're having trouble dodging, kite in a serpentine pattern (zig-zag), as this will throw off the targeting of most of his abilities. Just be prepared to dash in a straight line if the screen starts to rumble for falling rocks.

If you're absolutely desperate, it's possible to trap him on one end of the invisible bridge in the middle (the one going diagonally from top-left to bottom-right) and kill him Mephisto style by darting him to death from the other side. If he's stuck this way, he shouldn't use any of his abilities.

-----------------------------------------

Belial

Recommended Builds

Splinters
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...dQP!YWV!aaZYbb

Recommended Stats

Damage: 25,000
Health: +40,000
Armor: 2000
Resists: 220

Pre-Notes

I used this video guide (to an extent) to fight Belial, and I highly recommend all Witch Doctors try it.

You Tube

You Tube

It shortens attempt time by making the first two phases end in about a minute total, allowing the player to focus on the third, harder phase.

Phase Information and General Strategy

Phase One – Snakes, but no plane

About two dozen serpents spawn in small groups. Kill them all via kiting - it should be fairly easy. If you're using the recommended build and/or video guide, do not waste CDs or Spirit Vessel, and do not pick up any health orbs just yet – unless there are more than five on the ground, or it's an emergency. Also, attempt to get five stacks on Soul Harvest if you can safely do so with Spirit Walk.

If you're having trouble with the snakes going invisible, keep in mind that they automatically come out of invisibility after three to five seconds. Just guess at where they are based on movement speed and where they disappeared from, and kite away until they reappear.

Phase Two – Mini Belial

Belial comes off his platform and attempts to kill you himself. Initially he'll reposition by dashing around for a few seconds, then he'll settle for a bit. During this phase, he will occasionally dash to you and hit you for massive damage. If you have the stats I recommend, this should not one-shot you, but will take you to about 25% health. After about 20 seconds, he'll step back and shoot three green circles at you. They move slowly, but they will probably one-shot you, and the middle of the three circles will always be centered on you when he fires them. Fortunately, they have small hit-boxes, so they can be avoided by standing in between them. After 30 seconds or so, he starts spawning more snakes, and you have to fight both him and his minions at the same time. Once he gets to 20%, he enters Phase Three.

If you're using the recommended build, grab as many health orbs you can while he's doing his initial positioning, then blow your cooldowns and pewpew. If done correctly, with reasonable stacks of Soul Harvest and Gruesome Feast, you should be able to get him to 20% before he starts spawning snakes. Should you not have enough damage to do so, attempt to continue to focus him, while CCing/kiting the snakes. Avoid fighting the snakes as much as possible, as this will only extend the fight, and increase the odds of making a mistake and dying or using Spirit Vessel prematurely.

Phase Three – True Form Belial

This is where most of your attempts will probably fail. Don't despair! Keep trying! He has three main abilities. I recommend positioning yourself in the lower/lower-right section of the arena. Know that ALL of his abilities one-shot, and they all have larger hit-boxes than you'd expect.

Ground Slam – This should be the only thing you die to, barring extreme lag or really, really poor luck. He'll rear up, and a green circle will appear on the ground. These attacks vary in form, as do the hit boxes. Never, ever try to make a “clean,” or “efficient” dodge during this phase, nor should you ever try to attack while he's doing this. Always run further than you need to, and be careful not to get cornered. Note that these attacks often happen in sets of three and two (a three hit combo, then two random hits) before he switches to another attack. The type of attack can also somewhat be influenced by your positioning. For example, if you position closer to him, he'll quite often do a straight down attack, where he pierces the ground with his claw – thus having a much smaller hit box. However, I've found it best to simply run small arcs around the lower section of the arena, somewhere in the middle, between him and the outer edge – not getting too close or too far. Again, do NOT attempt to attack him during this type of attack. Between lag and what not, you will probably get hit and die.

Breath – While this is broadcast by him rearing up, it's often too late to avoid by then if you aren't already moving. However, this is an easy one to dodge, as it only comes immediately after a Ground Slam sequence. Simply position yourself in the lower-right corner and it won't hit you. Note that if you're terribly unlucky, he'll block the lower-right corner instead of the upper-left as he's supposed to, and you won't be able to take cover. Once positioned, this is a good chance to attack.

Bombing – This attack often comes immediately after a breath attack, but not always. He'll stick both of his hands in the ground, and green circles will start popping up everywhere, and explode a second or two later. Avoid, and attack whenever you get the chance. While your avoiding, know that the moment a circle explodes, it can usually be walked on – even if there appears to be an explosion animation going on. For better dodging, try to memorize the order in which nearby circles pop up. If you get boxed in, it's good to know which are about to explode. Unfortunately, there is a rather severe bug that plagues this ability – invisible bombs. Occasionally, you'll think you're safe, but you'll suddenly explode. If this happens more than once, leave the game and remake to get on a new server. It's unfortunate, but that's all you can do.

Additional Notes and Tips

Honestly, Belial took me six hours, or about fifty attempts. Lag, even in small amounts, got me killed constantly. I'd attempt to dodge a ground slam, but the server would consider me underneath the attack, even when on my screen I was quite far away. Coupled with invisible bombs and the occasional human error, it was not a pleasant experience. It seems luck is required to some extent (or a lot of perseverance, in my case :P ). A few tips though...

-Again, dodge his ground attacks by running as far as possible. Avoid running into a corner where he can box you in.

-Dodge carefully during his bomb attacks. Make sure you're standing just a little bit further away from the circles than you need to be. Again, avoid corners.

-Try to save Spirit Walk for his ground slam attacks – you want to keep Spirit Vessel off cooldown for as long as possible.

-If you do happen to get caught off-guard by his breath attack, pop Spirit Walk and run to where he's starting the breath. Ideally, you'll reach safety before he hits your dummy, pulling you out of Spirit Walk.

-NEVER try to hard-dps using cooldowns. Dodging > damage, always.

-His opening attack sequence is almost always three attacks plus two, breath, then bombs. Note that this sequence can vary, so don't rely on it to much. After his first bombing, he can do ground slam -> breath -> ground slam again, so immediately prep for dodging ground slam again after a breath attack, and don't start hitting him until you know his going into a bomb attack.

-Don't be afraid to re-make! If you're getting hit by invisible bombs, you will save a lot of time and frustration by simply re-making and re-clearing to Belial.

Act Three

Recommended Builds

Splinters
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...kRX!XVW!aaaZab

OR for dealing with packs of Fallen...
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...kRh!XVW!aaaZac

Recommended Stats

Damage: 28,000
Health: 40,000-45,000
Armor: 2200-2500
Resists: 250

-----------------------------------------

The jump in difficulty from Act Two to Three is significantly less than Act One to Two, with a few exceptions. Most notable of which are the elite packs. At this point, some of them are so difficult or even impossible to fight, that you either have to reset the map by leaving and rejoining, kite them to a corner and die, or run past them. Only about half of these packs will be killable within a reasonable amount of time. You will learn very quickly what you can and cannot kill – use your judgment for each fight. Is it easy to kite? Does it have ranged? Is it plagued? Teleport? Fast? All of these things (and more) you should take into consideration before deciding to fight or skip a pack. Don't feel bad about skipping things! If you want to farm elites, you can do it later – for now, it's best to get to Act Four as quickly as possible.

Another exception in terms of difficulty are Soul Lashers – the monsters that slap you about with their tongues. As far as I can tell, this will always one-shot you. Spirit Vessel will help with this, but you still must learn to fight them, and fortunately, they usually come as individuals – not in packs.

The best way of fighting them is either to let the Templar charge them for a stun, and have Hex out while he does so. The lasher will get stunned, then polymorphed. Provided that your damage is reasonably good, you should be able to kill the lasher before it gets out of CC. Optionally, you can Spirit Walk up, Hex, and shoot them to death. Notice that I now recommend Jaunt on Spirit Walk instead of Healing Journey – this is one of the reasons why.

A third option is available, but it requires the right situation. The range of their tongue is actually a little bit shorter than the screen. Provided you see them coming from afar, you can slow them with Grasp of the Dead or trap them with Wall of Zombies, step off-screen, and shoot them before they get in range. However, more often then not, they will be on top of you before you can do this.

Yet another exception are Phase Beasts. Treat these much like Soul Lashers, except that these don't have ranged. They also typically don't teleport more than once every five or ten seconds. Once they teleport, drop a wall DIRECTLY on top of them to trap them, pop Hex a second or two later, all the while shooting them. In emergencies (or when dealing with multiples), Horrify with Face of Death is quite handy.

Also, there tends to be a lot of ranged in Act Three, from quill beasts to skeleton archers. The best way to deal with them is to poke your head out from behind a corner, drop a wall and/or grasp for a bit of damage, shoot a few times, and hide again. Repeat as needed. Note that while a quill beast's projectiles travel really fast, they have fairly short range, and can be killed from off-screen fairly easy. Archers have longer range, but their projectiles are very slow.

Last, it's worth noting that trash mobs drop some pretty good loot at this point. Check the value of everything that seems like it could be worth some money. I skipped about half of Act Three (in terms of elites), but still made about a million and a half gold in the day I spent doing the act – almost all of which came from random monsters and not elites or bosses.

-----------------------------------------

Ghom

Lolreally?

Ghom is the easiest boss you will ever fight. Just dodge the gas, kiting in large circles around the edge of the arena whenever possible, slowing the slimes whenever needed. Generally you can ignore them, and they'll slowly die to your grasps/walls. For a faster kill, drop Horrify for Soul Harvest and Hex (you really shouldn't need the heal sustain or fear, as you should never get hit anyway) for Haunt with Resentful Spirit. Keep in mind that Haunt burns mana fast, so don't use it unless the previous cast has run out.

-----------------------------------------

The Siegebreaker

Pre-Notes and Abilities

Another easy boss. Keep Hex if you feel like it, dropping Horrify for Haunt again. He really only has four attacks, only two of which should matter.

Charge – This is the one he broadcasts by stomping the ground a few times, then rearing up facing the direction he will charge. Pay attention and dodging should be easy, even if you have to use Spirit Walk

Mini Charge – Similar to his main charge, except much more sudden. He won't stomp about, he'll just rear up and charge, though he cannot change directions after rearing up. This will kill you if you aren't keeping a close eye on him. However, it seems he only uses this when he starts getting low – at about 30% life.

Ground Slam – Largely irrelevant, as you should never be close enough to him for this to hit you.

Claw Attack – Same as Ground Slam. Worth noting that the hit box for this is really tiny – it shouldn't hit you unless you stand still for a long time.

Strategy

Just like The Butcher, Wall of Zombies will stop his charges, and there are a number of terrain features (namely rocks on the left side of the arena) that you can hide behind which also stop his charges. Simply run circles around him, keeping him on the edge of your screen so you can see what he's doing, and he should be cake as none of his abilities will be capable of hitting you.

-----------------------------------------

Cydaea

Recommended Build

Splinter Variation
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...kRd!XVW!aaaZaZ

Pre-Notes and Abilities

Yet another easy boss. Keep Hex for a touch of sustain against her ranged attacks, and take Soul Harvest with Siphon over Horrify to make the fight faster.

Poison Darts – She'll periodically shoot out four poison darts in somewhat random directions, though oriented towards you. These are somewhat dodgeable as long as you remain moving, but they shouldn't one-shot you either. After two or three volleys, she'll use her Web ability.

Web – Just a slow that she shoots underneath you. Doesn't do damage, just a little annoying at times. Walk off it and continue fighting!

Spider Pit – Occasionally, she'll shoot out little green pits that spawn spiders. These pits also spawn on their own. They spawn slow moving (but one-shotting!) small spiders for a little while, then disappear. I find it best to ignore these spiders, occasionally Spirit Walking into them for Soul Harvest, and generally just keeping them slowed with Grasp of the Dead. Once there's a good 30 of them on the screen, kill them with Grasp and Wall combo, if you deep it necessary. Though, if you wait long enough, the spiders will disappear on their own eventually.

Strategy

She should be a leisurely fight. Just kite around the spiders, shooting Cydaea whenever you can. Keep Hex up for the heal to mitigate her Poison Dart damage, as you will inevitably get hit. Just be careful when she shoots a spider pit directly on you. This will almost immediately spawn a spider, which will instantly kill you, or at least activate Spirit Vessel – so be ready to dash away if she does shoot you with one. Otherwise, this plays much like Ghom, and should be fairly easy.

-----------------------------------------

Azmodan

Recommended Build

Splinters Variation
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...kRe!XVW!aaaZaZ

Recommended Stats

Damage: 25,000
Health: 35,000
Armor: 2200
Resists: 220
Movement Speed: 25% or Greater

Pre-Notes and Abilities

Same build as usual, just dropping Horrify for Haunt once again. However, your gear will probably need a bit of work. It is absolutely mandatory that you have 12% movement speed on your boots. I also highly recommend buying Hammer Jammers (cheap legendary pants with movement speed on them), Slave Bonds (cheap legendary bracers with movement speed), and possibly a Talisman of Aranoch and/or Unity (cheap legendary amulet and ring with movement speed). Do try to keep about 35k HP and reasonable resists when buying these pieces of gear, however. On the other hand, you don't have to worry too much about damage, as long as it's above 20k. I'll explain why you want the movement speed shortly.

Fire Ball – Insta-gibs, but extremely slow moving. Simply stutter-step as you do damage, and this will never hit you. You can also break them by hiding behind the chains that look like support beams such that it collides with them.

Spawners – After he takes about 15% damage (or it could be on a timer, not really sure), he starts creating monster spawners around the arena, which spawn the melee demon troopers. These appear on the mini-map, and if they're off the mini-map, you'll see a golden arrow pointing to their location. I like to kill these when they crop up, leaving the health orbs until I need them.

Puddles – These are why you need movement speed. At about 70%, 45%, 25% and 15% life, he'll use an ability that spawns growing black puddles around the arena. The first three drop fairly predictably in the top right, top left, and bottom left areas of the map, then the others will drop very near you, or even directly underneath you. Spirit Walk can help if you end up right on the edge of a puddle, but if you are right in the middle, Spirit Walk will break before you get out of the pool. With the extra movement speed, however, you can outrun much of the pool's growth, and ultimately take less damage – hopefully getting out without using Spirit Vessel. Note that the pools have a slightly larger radius than the animation shows.

Lazorzpewpew – Azmodan will occasionally use a somewhat slow moving arcing laser after the first time he uses puddles. Just stutter-step it once you're a small distance away and keep shooting him.

Strategy and Tips

Much like Belial, kiting > damage, particularly during the pool attack. Fortunately, unlike Belial, lag is much less of an issue, since Azmodan's abilities tend to be slower, with more obvious hit-boxes (with the exception of the puddles). The only hard-to-deal-with mechanic that will kill most of your attempts is the pool ability. Movement speed will help vastly with this. However, it can still be tricky. Some tips...

-Always avoid getting too close to the puddles, and never try to walk between them unless you absolutely have to. Remember, these break Spirit Walk with ease. If you have to cross over a puddle, pop Spirit Walk in a “safe” area, and then run across.

-I find that following the ring pattern in the ground that goes from chain to chain with a mild serpentine pattern is the safest way to deal with the puddles. They have some degree of motion-prediction, and occasionally he'll drop them in front of you. Zig-zagging mitigates this significantly.

-Don't be afraid to potion! Keep Spirit Vessel off cooldown as much as possible. When you get hit by a pool, do everything you can to avoid taking lethal damage – from using potions to using Hex, or grabbing health globes (though only if it's absolutely safe to do so!). The Templar will also help sustain you, if he's alive.

-When dealing with the spawners, one option is to just drop a wall on one. It will kill the spawner, and most likely any minion that manages to spawn from it.

-Wall and Grasp also deal decent damage to Azmodan, though they burn mana quickly if you're also casting Haunt.

Act Four

Recommended Builds

Splinters
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...kRX!XVW!aaaZab

Recommended Stats

Damage: 30,000
Health: 40,000-45,000
Armor: 2500
Resists: 300

-----------------------------------------

I find there is much contention of damage vs survivability on a Witch Doctor past Act Two Inferno. Most Witch Doctors opt for full intelligence gear, with no survivability whatsoever. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. If you prefer to kill things quickly at the risk of being one-shotted by everything, that's fine. In fact, it's possible that you may progress more quickly in Act Four by doing so.

However, personally, I've found that not everything, just most things, one-shot in Act Three and Four, despite what a lot of people will tell you. Having some health/resists dramatically reduces my number of deaths against such things as ranged monsters and dots like desecrate and plague.

Additionally, I've also found that a lot of things that players believe is a guaranteed one-shot, actually isn't. Two prime examples are the Corrupted Angels' charge, and Izual's global freeze attack. I've found that, with roughly the recommended stats above, I survive the Corrupted Angel charge about 1/3rd of the time with 1/5th health remaining. Similar for Izual's freeze, except it's more like a 70% survival rate. You're choice though, but I do recommend starting with balanced gear, and deciding from there based on your play-style and performance.

That said, most of the monsters in Act Four are really squishy. Thus, 30k damage (actually more like 27k) has been enough for me so far. The only monsters you really need to watch out for (at least where I am at), are Saboteurs (mortar-like effect that one-shots) which you will stutter-step endlessly to kill, and Oppressors, which have a near-instant charge that can be performed from across the screen, and it one-shots. Treat the Oppressors and Saboteurs like the Lashers from Act Three, using the same strategy, and you should be fine.

Corrupted Angels are similar, except their charge can actually be dodged or avoided with Spirit Walk if you have really good timing. They actually pause and rear up for a moment before charging. If you can dodge it, great. If not, again, treat them just like Lashers. Also, try to hit them with Grasp of the Dead or Wall of Zombies before using darts. This way they'll be physical resistant and not poison resistant, allowing you to kill them much more quickly

-----------------------------------------

Iskatu

Another fairly easy boss. I recommend dropping Horrify for Locus Swarm with a choice rune. Take him slowly, and kite in big circles around the edge of the map. Save your CC for when the little guys bunch up enough to make a slow worthwhile, popping locust when it's safe to do so. If you try to rush this boss, he'll kill you very, very quickly. So just let Locust Swarm do most of the work, firing off darts when you have a good chance, and running around as needed to wait for cooldowns. Keep Hex and potions on hand just in case you take a hit or two.

There is also the possibility of dog-splosion build using Sacrifice making this boss incredibly easy. However, I have not tried it yet (I shall later today), so I can't recommend it with confidence.

-----------------------------------------

Rakanoth

Recommended Builds

VQ Bears Variation
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...TQP!UVW!caaZZb

Recommended Stats

Damage: 30,000 should suffice, but more is better! Personally, I had 38k.
Health: lolwat?
Armor: lolwat?
Resists: lolwat?

Pre-Notes and Abilities

Happy fun time! Oh I lied! This guy cannot really be beaten conventionally. No amount of defensive gear/abilities can save you from his teleport, which is undodgeable and instantly kills or activates Spirit Vessel. There is a way to beat him solo, however. I'll post it below, but first, his largely irrelevant abilities!

Teleport – A small rear-up, but it's irrelevant as it has instant travel time, instantly kill, and is undodgeable unless you're very lucky.

Disks – Occasionally he'll rear up and shoot disks somewhat randomly in an arc. These collide with the ground, and typically one-shot if you get hit directly. Fairly small hit box, however.

Minions (Lashers?) – Occasionally he'll spawn two of what I believe are lashers. Personally, I don't let them live long enough to find out!

Strategy

In order to beat him, you actually have to stack intellect gear and go VQ-Bears (with a One-Hander and Mojo – your Splinter gear, basically), and Spirit Vessel is mandatory. I used this video as a guide.

You Tube

You Tube

Essentially, there is no strategy. Once you go in, stand where you want him to teleport to and pop your pets. The moment he jumps in (hopefully not onto you!), step into the corner, drop your CDs, and blow him up. I have done this successfully, but it took a few tries for him to not jump on me initially, and to get the positioning right. For this to work, every single bear MUST hit him. Positioning your back to the wall, when done correctly, will make the bears go in a straight line, making this possible. If you see him rear up for a charge while you're damaging him, pop Spirit Walk and continue your damage.

Just as a side note, the gear cost me about 300k, so it's not a “huge” investment, as you shouldn't have needed to buy much gear (if any) between the end of Act Two until now, other than perhaps the movement speed for Azmodan. Plus, it's always good to have a pure-intellect set on hand, should you ever want to change your strategy to a suicidal-type build. Also, when buying your int gear, try to get it with dexterity. Just a little bit of dexterity can give you the dodge you need to survive a charge, and finish the fight.

Again, this may take a few tries as it's largely luck-based. Don't get frustrated! Make sure your gear is correct, your positioning is optimal, and keep going at it.

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Izual

Recommended Builds

Splinters
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...kRW!XVW!aaaZaZ

Recommended Stats

Damage: 30,000
Health: 45,000
Armor: 2600
Resists: 300

Pre-Notes and Abilities

As you can see, I recommend a Splinter build with Toad of Hugeness in place of Horrify. I'll get to why shortly. Note that Spirit Vessel is pretty much mandatory for this fight, as it was for Rakanoth.

Frozen – Typical freezing ability that you see on elites. Avoid it carefully, and you'll be just fine.

Charge – All oppressors have this ability. It's basically an instant-charge/teleport that instantly kills. It's range-triggered, so try not to get within a screen of Izual or his Oppressors unless there is something between you and them (IE, a well-place Wall of Zombies, or the circular, impassable pits)

Global Freeze – Izual will cast this twice at 60% and 25% life. This a lot of people believe is a one-shot, but if you have the recommended stats above, you should be able to survive. If not, I'll explain how to deal with it below.

Minions (Oppressors) – Spawns about five at 75% life. Typical oppressors. Don't get charged, kill them fast when they show up – ideally from off-screen.

Minions (Corrupted Angels) – Spawns two at about 50%. Again, typical Corrupted Angels, except I think they have slightly more health. Never, ever let these get on screen. Always kill them off-screen, or fight them while they're Hexed you're in Spirit Walk.

Strategy and Tips

If you survive the Global Freeze without activating Spirit Vessel, then this fight should be fairly easy. Kite him around one of the holes in the ground for the first 20% or so (Oppressors can't charge over the holes, though the Corrupted Angels can), then start kiting away, getting off-screen before triggering the Oppressor spawns. Drop CCs like a madman (thus the Toad of Hugeness) and kill the Oppressors from either behind a hole - or even better, from off-screen.

Shortly after freezing you, the Corrupted Angels will spawn. Here is where the Toad of Hugeness becomes particularly handy. Whenever you stop to shoot Izual, drop the Toad and Hex. If the Angels wander on screen, they should be near-instantly CCed, giving you time to run away before they kick your butt. Either kill the Angels or ignore them and kill Izual, being careful of when you trigger his second Global Freeze, such that neither he, nor his minions are on screen when he does so. Other than that, he should be pretty easy.

Now, if you can't survive his Global Freeze, you will need to follow the same strategy, EXCEPT that after the first freeze (and the triggering of Spirit Vessel), kill any minions and kite Izual until the cooldown on Spirit Vessel ends, then resume fighting. Keep in mind that this means you cannot get hit by anything except the Global Freeze during the entirety of the fight. Also know that Tyrael does pretty massive damage. Make sure that when you are kiting him in between freezes, that you are keeping Izual off-screen so that Tyrael stays next to you.

-Izual can be slowed and trapped by Grasp of the Dead and Wall of Zombies, respectively. He can also be Hexed.

-Izual generally doesn't charge unless he gets within a quarter of a screen of you (halfway between the edge of the screen and you), whereas Oppressors will frequently charge from the edge of your screen, sometimes from just off screen. Keep the Oppressors away, and shoot blindly from off screen if you have to!

-The Corrupted Angels tend to be really slow, and not particularly aggressive. If you stay near the edges of the map, and move around cautiously, there's a good chance you'll never have to fight them directly – just Spirit Walk past them occasionally, while dropping CCs as you run by.

-If you die when Izual is at about 10% or less, don't resurrect! Tyrael will actually continue fighting while you're dead, and does a few percent damage each hit to Izual. Thus, he can actually kill Izual, completing the quest while you're dead. Note that, after about a minute, you will be forcefully resurrected, resetting the fight as normal.

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Diablo

DISCLAIMER: KILLING DIABLO IS A WASTE OF TIME! The fight can take anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour, and his drops are usally mediocre at best. Only kill him if you want the accomplishment, not the loot!

Recommended Builds

Splinters Variation
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...kRe!ZVW!accZaa

Recommended Stats

Damage: 25,000
Health: 45,000
Armor: 2500
Resists: 300

OR

Damage: 25,000
Health: 35,000
Armor: 3000
Resists: 380

Stats recommended by OneNoteChord

Damage: 31,500
Health: 40,000
Armor: 2500
Resists: 500

While I cannot verify it, OneNoteChord says he was able to complete Diablo without activating his enrage. Additionally, he says that Phase Two was easier with more damage <-- This is certainly true, as the clones are the most dangerous part, so killing them fast is important. Assuming he used Jungle Fortitude, with his level of resists, his effective health was 243k - Impressive to be sure, particularly with his damage. If you can afford this gear set, I do recommend giving it a whirl.

SUPER SPECIAL GEAR SET OF AWESOME <--- This is what I came up with, and used to beat him. If you can get better stats than this (particularly damage and mitigation) with the same health, do it!

Damage : 19,000
Health: 65,000
Armor: 2350
Resists: 240

Pre-Notes

While the first two statistical requirements are certainly practical, I went for something a little more.... Ballsy?

I noticed a number of things while fighting Diablo during my testing period.

1) Diablo will enrage at 30 minutes - it's going to happen pretty much no matter what you do. Unless you've got the gear to somehow sport 50k damage on top of 50k hp with 400 resist all and 3000 armor, there is little you can do about this. Having to kite, but also having reasonable amount of health and mitigation is necessary, so going full damage isn't much of an option. Fortunately, his enrage is somewhat mediocre if you know what you're doing. I'll get to that later

2) A LOT of his abilities actually don't do a whole lot of damage, many of them can be mitigated, provided extreme health/mitigation. This is particularly true of his melee attacks

3) If you don't have the right amount of health and mitigation, phase two will become exponentially harder, due to your clone, and how ridiculously fast Diablo moves and attacks.

So I hit up the auction house and decided to test a build with massive health, the result was that I could generally take two consecutive melee hits from Diablo without Spirit Vessel activating. Additionally, a "low-end" hit of his AoE fire spell didn't always one-shot me - it just came very, very close to doing so. Also, even with this insane amount of health, I could maintain nearly 20k damage with Pierce the Veil.

Interestingly, similar sets (IE, low hp/high resist) can get somewhat close to the same effective health. Yet, when I tried them, I died significantly faster. I suspect (though am unable to confirm) that Diablo has some amount of defense penetration. I'll test this out when I have some free time, but that's not terribly important now. Though, do note that the two other gear sets I provided have roughly 203k effective health - the special one has 258k. Keep in mind that if you do go for this special set, you MUST maintain 60% attack speed and 12% movement speed for mobility!

Phase Information

Note: While I do give audio queues for this boss, as you want to fight him from off screen as much as possible, keep in mind that audio queues are not 100% reliable, so pay attention to what you see as well!

Phase One - Is it just me, or does he look like a woman?

Fireball - Broadcasted by him rearing up to throw the fireball. Also an audio queue of a somewhat deep growl. This generally doesn't one-shot unless it hits directly, but the AoE effect ticks for damage really fast, and you cannot Spirit Walk out of it 95% of the time since the dummy will die instantly. Either run a circle around him to avoid, or pop Spirit Walk early for the speed boost. Optionally, the two crystal structures in the middle of the arena block this spell, though it has to hit the crystals directly (it will pass over the surrounding gap). Also note that these are ground targeted - that is, they don't have to hit you to explode. Diablo can make them explode right next to you, so make sure you dodge with enough room to account for this possibility!

AoE Fire - Broadcasted by him lifting his foot up to stomp the ground. Another audio queue of something like a shout. The hit boxes on the fire balls on this spell are HUGE. Pop Spirit Walk and run into the fire, such that your dummy gets hit second, or just run way, positioning yourself between two of the fireballs. Also blocked by the crystals in the middle, except these cannot pass over the gap. This means you can safely shoot him while he's casting this if you're on the other side of the small gaps around the crystals. This ability is a one-shot unless you're using the special build, in which case you should survive about half the time. Note that, occasionally, he'll fire this in roughly a 100 degree arc in front of him, instead of a full circle. If he does this, you cannot dodge by going in between the fire - you have to Spirit Walk and run into it (so your dummy gets hit after you pass through), or you have to go around it, or block it with the crystals.

Cages - This is an interesting ability. Diablo will stand still and screech, slowly raising his arms into the air. Black spots will pop up on the ground where the cages will appear a moment later. Note that this ability will continue casting for a couple of cages even after Diablo begins moving again. This skill does not kill you - it pops Spirit Vessel (if the cooldown is up) and reduces you to one HP. However, Diablo will always try to follow this up with melee attacks - chasing you if need be. If you spam Spirit Walk while he's crushing you, there is a very good chance you'll survive the attack and get away, even if Spirit Vessel was down when you got grabbed. Keep in mind that in phase two, Diablo moves and attacks more quickly, and it's very likely he'll get an attack in before you manage to pop Spirit Walk. Also, these cages block his movement and his Fireball and AoE Fire spells - similar to the crystals. However, his AoE fire can occasionally pass through.

Teleport - Broadcasted by him jumping into the air and disappearing for a moment, then a metallic screeching sound when he pops out. He usually melees after teleporting, but about 30% of the time, he'll cast something instead. It's very important to know that going near any edge of the map (outside the map, or the gaps around the crystals) will provoke him into teleporting. Avoid going near any impassable terrain at all times!

Melee Attacks - These are fairly easy to avoid, but you will inevitably get hit. This is why the +250k effective health is amazingly useful. At around this health, almost none of his melee attacks will one-shot you – often times you can take two without Spirit Vessel. Meaning, if you get hit when Spirit Walk is down, you can simply make a run for a health shrine without having Spirit Vessel get used. However, know that ALL of his melee attacks are AoE. If you pop Spirit Walk and stand still, he will break the dummy and hit you anyway. Always, always run away as quickly as possible, even if you use Spirit Walk! He's also fairly fast moving - if you get hit once, it's very likely he'll take another step and hit you again, and possibly a third time!

Dash - Occasionally he'll start to glow a bit, and dash towards you, attack a few times, dash a bit more, swing a bit more, then stop. I believe he broadcasts this by stomping the ground - much like how he does when switching to Phase Two. I highly recommend trying to save Spirit Walk for these dashes, as they can easily kill you or force you to unnecessarily use Spirit Vessel.

Phase Two - Nightmare Realm, cause he's a meanie

At around 60%, Diablo will stun you. Two cut-scenes will follow, and you'll be in the Nightmare Realm. Everything is pretty much the same as Phase One, except everything executes a little bit faster, and he spawns clones, but unless I'm mistaken, he does NOT use his AoE fire, as there's nothing that you can hide behind to block it. Also, it seems that the cage attack can genuinely one-shot on this phase, though not 100% of the time. This is the hardest phase! The darkness can make it extremely difficult to watch for cages, and the clones are extremely dangerous.

Clones - Diablo will go invisible at 100%, 60% and 30%, at which time he'll drop a clone of you to fight. This clone will have a random set of abilities every time you start a fight against Diablo (so it'll stay the same for the three clones you fight for the encounter). If your clone starts with Haunt or Firebomb, you're dead. Haunt will do hundreds of thousands of damage after mitigation, and you probably won't survive, even with Spirit Walk and Spirit Vessel. Firebomb is basically mortar (usually one-shots but with high enough mitigation and health, it may not), except it travels three times faster, making it undodgeable, often even with Spirit Walk. If this happens, restart and try again. Otherwise, Hex him, drop a wall directly on him to trap him, step off screen, and kill him as quickly as possible. Note that Diablo returns as soon as the clone dies, or after about 15 seconds - whichever comes first. If you don't kill the clone quickly enough, you will have to fight the clone and Diablo at the same time! If this happens, drop a Haunt on the clone and run away. Focus on dodging Diablo's attacks, and killing the clone with Haunt, while remaining off screen as long as possible. Once the clone dies, fight Diablo normally.

Phase Three - Oh, he mad

Same as phase one, except he's a little bit faster (similar to phase two), except he now casts Fire Lightning.

Fire lightning - Broadcasted by him rearing up similar to Fireball, but with a longer delay. Audio queue is a mid-tone growl/scream. This should be easy to dodge as the broadcast is long, and he has a very slow turn speed when casting. The range is also somewhat short (screen and a half or so). However, it does tick very, very fast, so don't get hit! Spirit Walk won't help on this either. Also, the crystals in the middle do block this attack, but it can be difficult to line up. Only use this method in emergencies.

Strategy and Tips

All in-all, I find Diablo to be one of the most mechanically simple bosses. All of his abilities are easy to predict and dodge. Just like the last two act bosses, dodging > damage. Focus on dodging and you'll beat him, even if it takes a while.

That said, I've found the best way to fight him is to run circles around the arena, using the crystals to your advantage as much as possible, letting Haunt and Grasp do their work, only using darts when you have good distance on him, and know that he's not casting cages. To avoid provoking teleports, use the golden ring pattern on the ground as a guide - don't walk on it! Stay somewhere in between that golden ring that surrounds the crystals, and the edge of the map. Stutter step relentlessly!

Phase Two is a little trickier, as it's harder to see where the edges of the map are – particularly of the three holes in the arena. I recommend taking a round or two to experiment and see how close you can get to what before it provokes teleport. I also highly recommend staying away from the lower-left section of the arena. I've found that the gap between the lower-left edge and hole is too tight, and will almost always provoke a teleport. Only go that way if you absolutely have to when fighting the clones.

Keep in mind that he does enrage at around 30 minutes. If I understand correctly, it simply makes him cast more often - mostly fire balls. Get good at dodging, and enrage won't make much of a difference, other than slowing the fight down. I don't remember exactly how long my winning fight took, but I'd guess about 40 minutes. Yes, really!

Before I get to the tips, I want to make one thing very clear. Take. Your. Time. The fight is going to be long no matter what you do, so there is no point in rushing it and making mistakes. Phase One and Three should be very laid back fights, with you rarely ever seeing Diablo, except when he charges. Also, if you're having a lot of trouble clearing Phase One, take a break and re-evaluate what you're doing, as well as your gear. You should be able to clear Phase One 90% of the time without your heart-rate going up. If you can't do this, chances are you will die shortly after entering Phase Two, wasting the time you spent on the first Phase.

If this is the case, spend more time practicing your dodging in Phase One, and less time attack, until dodging gets to the point where it mindless. Personally, when doing Phase One, I could carry on conversations, type (when there weren't cages/fireballs being cast), and so on. It was incredibly easy – and it should be for you too. Phase Two, was intense as hell, and Phase Three was again, easy (other than excitement at my impending victory!). This is how it should be. If you're having trouble keeping up in Phase One, you will die in Phase Two. On the other hand, if you can clear all three clones in Phase Two, you should have already won, but still don't rush! Take the extra time you need to let health regenerate, Spirit Vessel come off cooldown, and so on. Now for the tips!

-Cages can be used to block his ranged spells in a pinch (But not his fire lightning!). Just watch out for the AoE on the fireballs, and the unblocked fire from his AoE fire.

-The health shrines also block his fire balls and AoE, but can also provoke his teleport!

-Try to save Spirit Walk for dodging his melee attacks (dash, in particular) and fire balls. If he melees you twice in quick succession (and he'll try to a lot!), you will have most likely wasted Spirit Vessel. His AoE fire should be easy to dodge, as are the cages, so avoid using Spirit Walk for these - unless you have to, of course.

-Dodge far! All of his abilities have larger hit-boxes than the animations suggest, so don't try to make "clean," "perfect" dodges. Again, mobility > damage.

-The best times to damage him with darts are when he's off screen and not casting cages, or when he's casting his AoE fire, and you're positioned on the other side of a gap.

-Never be afraid to stall! If you mess up and Spirit Vessel gets used, and your heart is pumping like crazy, just run around in circles until you're comfortable again, with full life and Spirit Vessel at the ready.

-----------------------------------------

Thank you for reading! I hope it helped. I'll continue to update as needed, unless someone else provides a better guide.

[Jaywalk]

man that was a great read thanks! im doing act 2 inferno at the moment and its pretty challenging, but a couple of extra tips from here should help a bit.

[Tonsh]

60 WD here in Act of inferno...

Left mouse - Poison darts with splinters rune; for the deepz
Right mouse - Grasp, with unbreakable rune; slows to 80%?

Q - Spirit Walk with the mana regen rune - Saves your ass that many times
W - Horrify with increase ranged rune - Another spell to keep mobs from hitting you
E - Locust Swarm with pestilence - AoE DoT i just started using it's pretty amazing
R - Wall of zombies with baricade rune - Used to wall of mobs while I dps them down with darts

Passives I use; - Jungle Foritude for 20% less dmg taken
- Pierce the veil for 30% more dmg done
- and ofcourse Spirit Vessel

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