Witch Doctor

Witch Doctor

The Dire

16 + 1.8 13 + 1.4 24 + 2.9

Level 1 16 25 Hit Points 454 1005 1651 Mana 312 897 1469 Damage 51-61 96-106 140-150 Armor 0.82 4.04 8.24 Attacks / Second 0.66 0.8 0.97

Movement Speed 305 Turn Rate 0.4 Sight Range 1800/800 Attack Range 600 Missile Speed 1200 Attack Duration 0.4+0.5 Cast Duration 0.35+0.52 Base Attack Time 1.7

Zharvakko the Witch Doctor is a ranged intelligence Hero who can take on the role of a support or a ganker. A master of voodoo curses and healing arts, he possesses several positioning-dependant crowd control/damage spells as well as a heal that scales well into the late game. Maledict is one of the most powerful damaging spells in the game, and is fittingly enough quite hard to hit properly - but when applied at the right time, Malediction can curse someone to suffer a slow, humiliating death as they limp back towards safety.

Bio

Zharvakko, the Witch Doctor Play "Set your clocks; it's the witching hour." Role: Support / Disabler Lore: A wiry silhouette hitches forward—uneven of feature and limb, bizarre of gait, relentlessly criss-crossing the battlefield in search of that vital weak point where his talents can do most good, and most harm. Whether broken or mismade it is not clear, but still, none can doubt the power carried in his twisted physique. A long staff thumps the earth as the Witch Doctor advances, deploying a terrifying arsenal of fetishes, hexes and spells. It is a body of magical knowledge learned over several lifetimes in the island highlands of Prefectura, now wielded with precision accuracy against his enemies. Witch Doctor is your best friend, or your worst enemy--healing allies and laying waste to all who oppose him. Voice: Tom Chantler (Responses)

Abilities

Paralyzing Cask Q R Ability Affects Damage Target Unit Enemies Magical Launches a cask of paralyzing powder that ricochets between enemy units, stunning and damaging those it hits. Cast Range: 700 Bounce Distance: 575 Stun Duration: 1 (5 on creeps) Damage: 75/100/125/150 (50 to heroes) Number Of Bounces: 2/4/6/8 20/18/16/14 110/120/130/140 Blocks and stops bounces if targeted on or bounces to holder. The Witch Doctor recycles the bones of fallen friends and foes, using the powder as part of his arsenal of charms and alchemy.

Notes: Targets can be hit multiple times, as long as another unit is struck in between the bounces. Will not bounce to invisible enemies. Can hit the main target up to 2/3/4/5 times, making the max damage done is 100/150/200/250 (150/300/500/750 to creeps).

Voodoo Restoration W V Ability Affects Toggle Allies Witch Doctor focuses his magic to heal nearby allied units. Radius: 350 Mana Cost Per Second: 8/14/20/26 Heal Per Second: 16/24/32/40 0 25/50/75/100 initial Can heal magic immune allies Zharvakko's hocus pocus is not limited only hexxing his opponents and is quite adept at curing ailments.

Notes: Heal is applied in 0.33 second intervals. Being silenced with this skill enabled will prevent you from toggling it, which can result in a lot of accidentally consumed mana.

Maledict E E Ability Affects Damage Target Point Enemy Heroes Magical Curses all enemy Heroes in an area, causing them to take damage every 4 seconds, adding bonus damage for every 100 HP lost since the curse began. Range: 450 Radius: 150 Duration: 12 Damage Per Second: 5/10/15/20 Extra Damage Per 100 HP Lost: 16/24/32/40 35 120 Certain voodoo magics can make an enemy regret engaging the Witch Doctor.

Notes: Damage is based on the difference between the HP values currently and when Maledict was cast, which means you can use burst heal such as Magic Wand charges to heal up and reduce damage from the next ticks. Maledict debuff cannot be purged nor can units be denied while under its effect. Likewise, becoming magic immune while under the effect of Maledict will block the DoT and 'tick' damage (since it is magic) but will in no way remove the effect, meaning it is still entirely possible to die if your immunity wears off before Maledict does. The DoT from Maledict alone deals a total of 60/120/180/240 damage.

Death Ward
Duration 8 (Channelled) Hit Points 135 Damage 60/90/120 (90/120/150*) Armor 0 Sight Range 1200/800 Attack Range 700 Missile Speed 1000 Base Attack Time .25 Bounty 0 Experience 0

Death Ward R D Ability Affects Damage Channeled Enemy Heroes Physical CHANNELED - Summons a deadly ward to attack enemy heroes. The Death Ward has attack range of 700, and attacks every .25 seconds. Level 3 Death Ward has a bouncing attack. Lasts 8 seconds. Cast Range: 300/350/400 Channel Duration: 8 Ward Damage: 60/90/120 (90/120/150*) Number Of Targets: 1/1/Bounces Once (1/Bounces Once/Bounces 4 times*) 80 200 Increases ward damage. Level 2 Death Ward attack bounces once. Level 3 Death Ward attacks will bounce 4 times. Witch Doctor performs a ritualistic dance, one that haunts the dreams of those who live to recount it.

Notes: The Death Ward is invulnerable, and can only be destroyed if its duration expires or if Witch Doctor is interrupted. The Death Ward can be controlled and made to attack a specific target. The Death Ward has a 700 attack range and attacks every 0.25 seconds. The Death Ward channel can be maintained while invisible through the use of Shadow Blade. Can deal up to 1920/2880/3840 (2880/3840/4800) damage per target over its duration. Since Death Ward deals physical damage, it will not be able to target or bounce to Ethereal enemies but does full damage to magic immune ones.

Recommended items

Explanation: Starting: Courier for the team. Tangos, Clarity and a Health pot to keep you present during laning. The gauntlet can later be used in a Bracer or better yet an Urn of Shadows to augment Witch Doctor's healing and provide needed mana regen and health. Early: Boots as always. A magic stick is always helpful for burst-healing on delicate support heroes. A bracer provides cheap effective survivability. Witch Doctor is a support hero and should always be providing wards for his team. Core: Phase Boots assist Witch Doctor's positioning since many of his spells are short range and he is fragile. Situational: Flying Courier should be bought if one is required. Scythe of Vyse gives you an instant disable and plenty of mana. Black King Bar functions well with your ultimate to prevent you being interrupted. Shiva's Guard is a good pickup if the enemy has many rightclick-based heroes. Bloodstone lets Witch Doctor keep his Voodoo Restoration up for much longer. Dagon can be very effective combined with Maledict if it is picked up early enough in the game. Aghanim's Scepter allows Death Ward to damage the entire enemy team, though it is recommended mostly if you are paired with large initiation stuns or slows such as Sandking, Tide Hunter, Faceless Void, or Enigma.

Tips

• Try to wait on casting Death Ward in teamfights until the enemies have already used some of their stuns, making it less likely you will be interrupted.
• Casting Death Ward from a hidden position such as the trees, or uphill in the fog, makes it much harder to disrupt.
• At rank 1, Voodoo Restoration is the most efficient form of AoE healing in the game based on mana-spent-per-hitpoints-gained. It is often a good idea to invest a single point into this skill during early laning and then max it later after your other abilities once you have the mana regen to support the higher cost.
• Paralyzing Cask is most effective when there are just two enemies close together. Under ideal conditions you can stun two enemies for up to 4 seconds each with this skill.
• Casting Maledict on opponents will often immediately force them to retreat for fear of taking crippling damage while under its effects. You can use this to make enemies flee who would otherwise easily kill you or your allies. If they do not flee, then at best they're trading themselves for you.

Trivia

• Witch Doctor is rarely called "The Walking Fountain", referring to his support skills Voodoo Restoration and Death Ward.
• The Witch Doctor will sometimes say "Pills here!", referencing Left 4 Dead, another game made by Valve.
• Witch Doctor's original name was Vol'jin, a reference to the character from the Warcraft universe.
  • Vol'jin is the warchief of the Darkspear tribe, where the playable race of trolls in World of Warcraft originate.
• Witch Doctor's fun name in DotA was Moose, taken from the player DL.Moose who played the Witch Doctor.

Update history

February 07, 2013 Patch

• Fixed Paralyzing Cask bouncing off of couriers.

January 10, 2013 Patch

• Fixed Aghanim's Death Ward attacking Familiars and other psuedo heroes.

November 08, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Paralyzing Casks not bouncing between Magic Immune enemies (doesn't stun them, but doesn't cause the bouncing to end prematurely).
• Fixed Death Ward not bouncing on magic immune enemies.

May 17, 2012 Patch

• Added healing overhead messages for Mekansm, Chen, Lifestealer, Necrolyte, and Witch Doctor.

March 22, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Death Ward projectile speed being too slow.

February 17, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Voodoo Restoration toggle proccing Essense Aura (could exploit to go to full mana).

February 16, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Paralyzing Casks deciding late as to which unit it will bounce to next (it would decide after its bounce delay, instead of before).

January 19, 2012 Patch

• Added alternate attack animations for Witch Doctor and Beastmaster.

December 16, 2011 Patch

• Witch Doctor will now express his frustration when performing a terrible malediction.

November 23, 2011 Patch

• [Undocumented] Updated icon for Witch Doctor.

November 17, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Paralyzing Casks stun lasting 5 seconds on Roshan.

September 29, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Paralyzing Casks bounce delay.

September 09, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Maledict not being applied on magic immune enemies.
• Paralysing cask is now delayed correctly before it bounces to it's next target.

August 09, 2011 Patch

• Moving Cask speed back to what it was before.

August 06, 2011 Patch

• Fixed some Paralyzing Casks speed issues.

July 08, 2011 Patch

• Sphere will eat Witch Doctor's Cask entirely.
• Cask is now dodgable by blinks.

June 02, 2011 Patch

• Implemented Witch Doctor's Ultimate Scepter.
• Fixed Chain Frost and Paralyzing Cask such that they now bounce correctly when their target unit dies/dodges.

March 03, 2011 Patch

• Fixed Paralyzing Casks going to hidden units.

Balance changelog

6.76

• Death Ward
  • Aghanim's upgrade changed from 3 target split attack to 5 target bounce.
  • Multi attack bounce AoE increased from 550 to 650.
  • Cooldown decreased from 90 to 80.

6.75

• Maledict bonus damage per 100 lost HP rescaled from 10/20/30/40 to 16/24/32/40.
• Death Ward attack cooldown decreased from 0.3 to 0.25.

6.69

• Paralyzing Cask first bounce no longer stuns for additional duration, it now lasts the same as all the bounces.
• Voodoo Restoration mana cost per second from 6/9/12/15 to 8/14/20/26.

6.65

• Paralyzing Cask now deals 50 damage to heroes on each bounce.

6.63

• Voodoo Restoration initial activation manacost reduced from 50/75/100/125 to 25/50/75/100.
• Paralyzing Cask manacost rescaled from 140 to 110/120/130/140.

6.61

• Increased base Intelligence from 19 to 24 (base damage adjust to remain the same though).

6.58

• Voodoo Restoration no longer triggers Essence Aura.

6.57

• Voodoo Restoration stats reworked.

6.51

• Voodoo Restoration changed to heal over a smoother interval (same total regen).

6.50

• Maledict area of effect increased by 15.
• Paralyzing Cask initial projectile speed and effect modified.

Gallery

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  Concept art

See also

• Witch Doctor responses
• Eyeball Fetish