Just got your Witch Doctor to Level 70 Witch Doctor? Now what? Look no further. In this guide, you’ll learn exactly what to do for each step for Seasonal Jounery, Haedrigs Gift, Builds & Items,and ultimately leading to the end-game as your Fresh 70 Witch Doctor. (Not 70 yet? See: WD Leveling Guide)

Curious? We’re going LoD -> Helltooth sanctified Garg

In Season 27, the Witch Doctor free set is: Helltooth Harness.

D3 Season 27 Lights Calling and YOU. How does it affect?

S27’s unique mechanic is the Angelic Crucible. Here’s how it works.

A seasonal random consumable item (Angelic Crucible) has a chance to drop anywhere – kind of like a ramaladni’s gift. You can then use this item on a legendary to give it various boosts.

Here’s what sanctifying an item does to it:
– Can only be used on any legendary item (set or non set).
– Retains all of its old powers (and gains a new sanctified power – more on this later).
– Gets rerolled.
– UPGRADES the stats to primal ancient tier (perfect rolls, ancient level stats)
– Adds a SANCTIFIED POWER to any existing powers it has.

Each class has three possible sanctified powers. For WD:
– Periodically Summon two Gargs and three ZDogs. Gargs gain Restless Giant rune, and Zdogs get all runes. Enemies hit by Sacrifice cause them to take 100% more damage from your pets.
– Enemies hit by Locust Swarm are also Haunted. Piranhas pull all haunted enemies. Enemies stunned by Bogadile are killed – Elites and Bosses stunned by Bogadile take massive damage.

For this guide we have a few couple overarching steps that dictate our plan.
– Gear up our LoD Garg for the early game.
– Smash seasonal journey – Helltooth is the free set!
– Transition into Helltooth Garg, which has a much higher ceiling.
– From here you can try making the dedicated speedfarm builds or something else… Ideas? “auto haunt jade 2 with sanctified DoT”.

Why LoD pets first? Well, its a very flexible build that you can cram defense and mobility in – it’s not as POWERFUL as Helltooth, but its very easy to setup and adjust, you can even potentially use it later of for niche farming scenarios.

Early game WD Sanctified powers – a heads up

Every time you get an angelic crucible to sanctify an item, you’re gonna want to use it ASAP to boost your power levels.

What item do I sanctify? If you can, use it on a main-hand weapon. Ideally, in your case, a Sacred Harvester, or any useful utility one-hander. Sanctifying makes into a primal ancient tier weapon.

While the sanctified power you want is Gargantuan / Dogs / Pets, you can potentially use the others during your “way up”, depending on how mature your build is. Horrify is always fringe usable. The haunt one is ok. Long story short, you’re not sad to “waste” a crucible on a wrong power.

Step 1) Initial Build & Getting Legacy of Dreams

Don’t get stressed out, yes, LoD builds might seem a little daunting but let me tell you that it’s a fun and exciting process. Ultimately you need two things right now: The actual LoD gem, and a basic build to get you going.

Generic Starter build (slightly related to our ‘final build’)

WD Fresh Level 70 No Set Build
Skills Rune
Haunt
Resentful Spirits (Any)
Locust Swarm (Open)
Cloud of Insects (Searing Locusts)
Soul Harvest
Languish (Soul to Waste)
Spirit Walk
Severance (Jaunt)
Summon Zombie Dogs
Leeching Beasts
Gargantuan Humongoid
Passives
Fierce Loyalty
Rush of Essence
Pierce the Veil Midnight Feast

The above build is meant to be in the middle of two things: Easy to edit – that hopefully game-changing legendaries can fit in no matter what. Related to our ‘final build’ – it’s a rough basic version of our “goal”, so it feels more natural as you transition towards it. Have a look down there for the final build preview to see what we’re going for.

Getting Legacy of Dreams ASAP

The first three gems will always be Bane of the Powerful, Legacy of Dreams, and one random one. So thankfully, there’s no RNG there.

Get 3 rift keys → Run 3 rifts → Wear three gemstones on your gear. That’s about as simple as it gets. DO NOT try to “tryhard” the nephs and GR’s. SPEED is the key here. Get your keys on Easy if you must!

Step 2) Easy power-ups. Huge gains for little effort.

You can go all of these things “simultaneously”, basically small tasks here and there that you should keep in mind right now that will greatly increase your power for little to no effort.

Make a Reaper’s Wraps: Speaking of no effort to big returns… Make this ASAP. Plans drop from any Torment Malthael. While WD isn’t exactly mana starved a free upgrade is a free upgrade.

What three Legendary gems?

Your next goal should be getting at least L25 on your three most important gems. Just get rift keys and spam GR’s until you get them, and do the absolute minimum level you need to level them up. Get them and level them quickly – do not feel pressured to “maximize” your rift keys by inflating the difficulty.

Legacy of Dreams is mandatory, as mentioned in the basics segment! Level this up as much as you can.

Enforcer is a solid DPS option for any Pet build. The “damage immunity” ain’t bad either. More DPS? Powerful or Trapped.

Esoteric Alteration or any other defensive gem should be best for now (Moratorium is also OK if you need another one)

Can’t ever go wrong with leveling up a Boon of the Hoarder for speedfarming.

Legendary Items in ALL SLOTS

LoD gets stronger with each legendary item you have equipped – so get to it! You should aim to get this done “passively” by natural item drops, but you can also craft items if you’re desperate.

Spending Blood Shards is “OK”, but only use Death’s Breath to fill up the slots if you’re absolutely desperate. You’ll get an item for each slot in no time (you can even craft them). Save your resources for finding SPECIFIC items that will greatly boost your power. We talk more about this in the next segment, refinement.

Ancients DOUBLE this bonus, and they’re a welcome boost to consider.

Defense Type & Gems

Wizards / WD’s / Necros are INTELLIGENCE classes (they get free ALLRES from INT). So, in the face of all this free allres, your prime defensive stats are ARMOR > VIT. So try to reroll Armor on your gear if you need defense – it’s your best defensive stat by FAR.

So your gemming strategy (body and legs) should be slotting your best Rubies or Emeralds, as they give Armor.

Basic Rerolls

Since legendaries are a little expensive to reroll EARLY ON, try to make the most by REMOVING GARBAGE STATS, and getting anything “remotely usable”.

INT VIT Armor are you basic stats that are welcome everywhere.

Life per Hit is AMAZING ON WD’s since we abuse Zombie Dogs – Leeching Beasts. You can socket amethyst on weapon, or reroll it on pretty much anywhere.

Gargantuan% is found in Shoulders and Chest. This is your only skill percent that matters.

The Element% you want for now is Cold, found typically in Bracers and Amulet.

Remove useless stats

  • Life Regeneration – garbage for any build.
  • Attack Speed – it usually an endgame tune-up stat.
  • Excess Resource Cost Reduction – Is a crutch, and only niche builds need it.
  • Excess Cooldown Reduction – Only useful for an endgame “need”.
  • Unused skill% – literally USELESS.
  • All Resists – Useless for us, take Armor and VIT instead.

Take better stats

  • INT VIT– can’t go wrong with these. Your core stats!
  • ARMOR Life% Great defensive stats.
  • Sockets are essentially MANDATORY.
  • Life per Hit – Great early game sustainability.
  • CRIT Stats (CHC / CHD) – More for endgame, but I’d take this over garbage stats.
  • Skill and Elemental% – that you use.

FOLLOWER GEAR!

Do not forget to fully equip your follower for farming. You can start by crafting Sage or Cain’s NOW and worry about the rest later.

Step 3) Refining, Using Resources -> ‘Full Build’

So you can easily see what items you’ll need, and you can get an idea of what we’re trying to do here.

Once you have the Garg Sanctified Power,
you don’t “need” Zombie Dogs in your skill bar.

Full Build Preview: LoD Garg

S27 Fresh 70 WD: Early Game LoD Gargantuan speedfarm
Head Mask of Jeram Skill Rune
Shoulder Any / Skeleton Kings ANY (Sacrifice) Next of Kin (Any)
Chest Aquila Cuirass Locust Swarm Pestilence
Arms Tasker and Theo Spirit Walk
Severance / Jaunt
Legs Blackthorne’s Soul Harvest
Languish / Soul to Waste
Boots Ice Climbers ANY (ZDogs) Leeching Beasts
Belt Goldwrap (Any) Gargantuan Humongoid
Bracer Lakumba’s Ornament Passives
Amulet Hellfire / Squirts Midnight Feast
Ring The Short Man’s Finger Spiritual Attunement
Ring Ring of Emptiness Grave Injustice (Open)
Weapon Echoing Fury Fierce Loyalty (Open)
Offhand Ukhapian Serpent —
Kanai’s Cube Legendary Gems
Wormwood / Sacred Harvester Legacy of Dreams
Stone Gauntlets / Archew / Frostburn Enforcer
Unity / CoE Any / Hoarder / Defense

LoD Garg is actually a decent set to farm with due to its brainless playstyle. Again, you can cram as much defense and mobility as you want in here – which is its main advantage versus Helltooth.

Wormwood is purely for a “lazy” way to activate Emptiness

Full Build Preview: Helltooth Garg

An extremely potent version of the build which isn’t as flexible, and gets its defenses from the giga stats given by Guardian set. A defensive gem could very well be needed here.

S27 Fresh 70 WD: Midgame Helltooth Gargantuan template
Head Mask of Jeram Skill Rune
Shoulder Helltooth Set Sacrifice Next of Kin
Chest Helltooth Set Locust Swarm Pestilence
Arms Helltooth Set Spirit Walk
Severance / Jaunt
Legs Helltooth Set Soul Harvest
Languish / Soul to Waste
Boots Helltooth Set ANY Piranhas Piranhado
Belt Guardian Set Gargantuan Humongoid
Bracer Guardian Set Passives
Amulet Squirt / Hellfire Midnight Feast
Ring
The Short Man’s Finger
 Grave Injustice
Ring Ring of Emptiness Spiritual Attunement (Open)
Weapon Echoing Fury Fiercy Loyalty (Open)
Offhand Ukhapian Serpent — —
Kanai’s Cube Legendary Gems
Wormwood / Sacred Harvester Bane of the Trapped
Tasker and Theo Enforcer
Ring of Royal Grandeur Any (Defensive, Stricken)

Mobility is rough to include here, Fierce Loyalty is your best bet. Wormwood is purely for a “lazy” way to activate Emptiness

Other Builds? “No Clicking Autofarm Locust Haunt Jade 2”

Im gonna HAVE to mention for you to try the 4fun T16 Speedfarming “no clicking build” based around the Locust Swarm + Haunt sanctified power, Jade Harvester 2pc set, Guardian 3pc, and Captain Crimson 3pc with RoRG.

With WORMWOOD + Jade 2 + Sanctified Locust+Haunt, it’s an auto-nuke while walking build.I wont go into detail for this build in THIS guide, but there ya go.

S27 ONLY: A note on WD SANCTIFIED POWERS

You’re looking for the Gargantuan one, naturally. Furthermore, you really really want to sanctify a main-hand weapon like Echoing Fury or Sacred Harvester since it upgrades into a primal ancient tier item. A primal ancient tier weapon is a, well, “gargantuan” increase in power.

The other powers are meh, but welcome fillers. The DoT one is needed for the “4fun” build mentioned above.

Get CORE ITEMS asap. The heart of your build

The absolute core of your build are these: Short Mans Finger – (Ring), which might be difficult to get, Mask of Jeram (Helm),Tasker and Theo (Gloves) – use Blood Shards.

The Short Man’s Finger is the true jackpot. Every other item is simply a defensive and / or utility boost.

Spending Blood Shards and Death’s Breath

Blood ShardsDeaths BreathRings, amulets

Here’s advice on how to spend your blood shards with Kadala, roughly in order of importance:

What you want first depends on wether you want DPS or defense.

Mask of Jeram (Helm) / Tasker and Theo (Gloves): Both equally important, both providing giga offensive boosts.

Goldwrap (Belt) is your best defensive item. Lol. Its for regular rifting only, but a welcome bandaid defense solution (if possible, use with Hoarder)

Lakumba’s Ornament (Bracer) is is your best “normal” defensive item. Try to get this asap as Nemesis is also in this pile, for your follower.

Aquila Cuirass (Chest) is another solid defensive option.

Ukhapian Serpent (Mojo) Not as great as the others but its consistent. Some people prefer Henri’s Perquisition, which is better for some mob types.

The Stone Gauntlet + Ice Climbers combo should only be used in a pair.

Here’s advice on how to get your weapons from Deaths Breath rare item upgrades (Kanai’s Cube Recipe: 25x Deaths Breath convert a rare into random legendary of same type), roughly in order of importance:

1h Axe for Echoing Fury is a surprising DPS boost for gargs.

Ceremonial Knife for Sacred Harvester is always a great option, increasing Soul Harvest stacks gives us alot of stats…

Wormwood – Staff, is great for brainlessly activating Ring of Emptiness…

Nothing else is really WORTH spending DB’s for, and would rather spend to try and get jewelry you might not have yet.

Rings and Amulets are tough to get from either BS or DB’s (due to the large amount of possible outcomes), but if you’re done getting your core items from these currencies – and you haven’t got your core accessories, it’s a viable way to spend them. Typically you’ll just find these as you grind – then use currency if you’re desperate. Anyway, if I had to rank the importance of your rings and ammys…

Short Man’s FInger is a HUGE boost. Like… “18x” stronger. Try to get this using any means. Shards, DB’s…

Ring of Emptiness is just a generic DPS increase that requires a bit of work…

Unity is a decent defensive option, but you need the follower immortality relic, and another Unity for the follower!

As an aside – Ring of Royal Grandeur and Avarice Band are BOUNTY ONLY rings (respectively ACT I and III), which DO NOT APPEAR FROM any other source. They, like any other bounty item, DO NOT DROP from monsters, gambling, upgrades or any other source outside of their respective BOUNTY CACHE.

Follower Gear odds and ends

More of a reminder than anything, once you start farming you will be running into those little bonuses for your follower farming build. Keep an eye out!

Summary & Outro

Welp, that’s about it. I’m liking these seasonal bonuses that remove the augmentation grind – makes the game a lot more humane. From here, you can easily do the Seasonal Journey if that’s your thing, or transition into literally any other build you like – the it’s exactly what the S27 fresh 70 LoD builds for each class are made for.

GL out there and check out our D3 Guide Directory if you need anything else!

32 COMMENTS

  1. Also when is a good time to start replacing the season set? Like how much of an increase should the item be before I swap it in to replace a piece of the seasonal set?

  2. What are your thoughts on the ancient legendary pig sticker? I got one with cdr skills 6%/reaource cost 10%/dmg to beasts 19%/dmg to humans 26%.

    • Pig sticker isn’t typically used by Witch Doctor. Sacred Harvester is a better all-purpose 1hander. It gets pretty insane once you augment it. But if you feel like it’s well rolled, save it.

      • Right after I posted about pig sticker I got the wormwood lol. That staff is so good I HAD to unequip it to complete the set dungeon. It would kill everything before I could do anything lol. Its gonna be hard to let this staff go.

  3. Brilliant guide! Perfect and exactly what I needed for the new ladder.
    Only suggestion would be advice to slowly transition into what looks like the most powerful build this season, which seems to be Jade Harvester.

  4. I am using Z6 and have tried to follow this guide as closely as possible but I just can’t seem to get my fetishes up past 8. I am using haunt and I spam it liberally and move around and stuff. I tried acid rain but it just doesn’t work for me that well because it is not fire and forget like haunt (targeting issues) and I run out of mana so quickly and then stand there twiddling my thumbs. So not sure what I am missing because I am trying different things but since my gems got to 25 I can’t get past GR40 (T7) in time and that feels like I am behind the curve.

    Advice? Suggestions? Appreciation in advance and thanx for the bitchin’ guide 🙂

  5. last time I played diablo 3 was at the auction house disaster.Now I am back,taking a break from overwatch and the game completely change,without thinking about my build its already enormous,You helped me a lot and I really appreciate the time and effort you put on this.
    Thank you very much

  6. Am I using acid cloud wrong if I am not getting Fetishes up to the passive max? I can do it easily with haunt but that is also much easier to spam.
    Love yalls guides btw, third season using them and it is always great.

    • You’re absolutely correct and that’s why I mentioned both of those skills. Fetishes are much easier to gather with Haunt compared to Acid Rain. But alas, the Haunt coverage is pretty bad. Honestly there’s no way around suffering usability issues of Z6 early on.

    • Yes, you get them up faster. Also, in the eventual Darts build keep in mind that the belt only triggers off SPENDERS. The Passive works with all attacks. It can be suboptimal to have them both, but in the early game – them working in tandem can be a load off your mind.

  9. Ok nervermind, i send a post before but because I didnt know how the Kunai’s Cube works. Now I do (didnt play for a long time).

  10. I have a doubt.
    I just got the set of 6 free pc, but, before completing the set, I got the Quetzalcoatl, so it’s worth losing the 6 bonus level?

  11. Thank you so much for this guidea. It helped me out a ton. I am new to seasonal and Diablo 3. I am confused when you say ‘GR 38 is enough to 25 a gem.’ Does that mean I need to get to GR38 to get a gem up to 25? Thanks again.

    • hi! its just the basic paragon priorities.
      Core – Primary stat > Vit > Move speed (depends, 25 points at most) > Max Resource (optional). all other points will be placed in primary
      Offense – CHC > CHD > CDR > Attack Speed
      Defense – Res All > Life > Armor > Life Regen
      Utility – Area Damage > RCR > LoH > Gold Find

  16. Which gems should you level ASAP? You list Zei’s, Powerful, and Trapped but only talk about Trapped and Enforcer which isn’t listed.

  17. So what do I do once Ive followed the above? Unless im missing something here all you do is talk about build and playstyle?

    • You can now start farming for items (getting ancient legendaries, death’s breath, materials for kanai-ing). Long term goals are up to you really. You can aim to climb the WD leaderboard, complete the season journey (shift+J) to get stash tab/s or just complete achievements (Y). It depends on you.

      This guide is to help you somehow beef up your fresh 70 witch doctor, with or without the free set, so you could go clear higher torments asap. Once you’ve completed the above, you can even try other Witch doctor set builds or classes.

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