Witch Doctor Build Gestalt [3.5]

[Krotchrot]

With the recent release of Diablo 3 and my interest in the battlefield control/hexing/releasing havoc upon my foes I was wondering in a gestalt game with any WotC publications, minus Dragon Mags. What would be the best way to build a Witch Doctor?

Some rules:
The Favored Class of the Race has to be full progression(no prestige classes on that side)
No Flaws at first level
Transparency rules in effect
Homebrew might be accepted.

[Essence_of_War]

Hmmm....

Haven't played Diablo 3 yet, what sort of iconic things does the Witch Doctor do?

[Urpriest]

How does the first rule interact with humans/half-elves?

[Telonius]

Looking up Witch Doctor on the Diablo wiki, it looks like the D&D equivalent would be something that summons undead. So you're probably looking at either Dread Necromancer or Cleric on one side of the Gestalt. (Wizard can be used too, but afaik most of the "undead minion" goodies are in Divine magic). Cleric is usually the more powerful choice, and it gets blasty spells that can be used to emulate some of the Witch Doctor's other stuff.

There are only a couple races that have Cleric as favored class. Female Drow and Human would be pretty much it, and Drow have that level adjustment. So, the question is, what to put on the other side of the Gestalt; that could determine your race. Tome of Battle classes are great, but nobody has those as favored classes; Human would be required, and you'd have to go Cleric20 or ToB20. (Which is actually not that terrible). You could go Druid to get Wisdom synergy, but I'm not sure that would fit with the character theme.

Hexblade (CWar) could do it, for the theme and a little crunch. It's not the most powerful class out there, but it does give you a bump to HP and BAB. Charisma is going to be a bit more important, but as an Undead-bolsterer, it would have been anyway.

So, I think that's probably what I'll go with. Human, with Hexblade as their chosen favored class. That will allow you to PrC out on the Cleric side of things. Also it'll let you go Cloistered Cleric at effectively no penalty (since you're only going to be casting in Light Armor anyway from Hexblade).

[Krotchrot]

@Essence_of_War:They are much like a Vodun. Spirituality based upon Ancestors, seems primitive. Gameplay wise they summon creatures like spiders, use acid(clouds, bursts, rain), poison darts, and even use their link to their Ancestors to Haunt(Fear) and buff themselves.


How does the first rule interact with humans/half-elves?

You pick your classes for example: Wizard//Archivist. Then one of them is your primary for the rest of the characters creation. So in the above example Wizard is the Favored Class so you must advance Wizard, but can Prestige out on your Archivist side. Human/Half-Elf lets you forego a Races normal Favored Class like Elf:Wizard, Hafling:Rogue, etc.

[Crasical]

If you allow pathfinder material, a JuJu Oracle or a Witch would both do this fairly well.

[Krotchrot]

I would prefer a 3.5, but I am also looking into the 3.P as well. I've played a Witch in 3.P briefly and it's the exact flavor I'm looking for. I just don't know much about converting from 3.P to 3.5.

[Essence_of_War]

Do you have a starting level?

If you start high enough to be able to bind Zceryll:
Hexblade//Binder (maybe with WotC_Mearls's hexblade fix? (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19547530/Contacting_Wizards_of_the_Coast_about_Hex_Blades?p ost_id=332210466#332210466))

Gives you a nice mix of active abilities, summons, hex/curses etc. I don't remember what casting stat they use, but when I saw the art for the Witch Doctor it screamed "OA Shaman" to me. If they cast off of charisma (and I think they get divine grace also?) they would work really well strapped to a hexblade's curses and such also.

[Urpriest]

Do you have a starting level?

If you start high enough to be able to bind Zceryll:
Hexblade//Binder (maybe with WotC_Mearls's hexblade fix? (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19547530/Contacting_Wizards_of_the_Coast_about_Hex_Blades?p ost_id=332210466#332210466))

Gives you a nice mix of active abilities, summons, hex/curses etc. I don't remember what casting stat they use, but when I saw the art for the Witch Doctor it screamed "OA Shaman" to me. If they cast off of charisma (and I think they get divine grace also?) they would work really well strapped to a hexblade's curses and such also.

OA Shamans cast off Wis, but they like Cha (they've got turning, and something like Divine Grace).

[gorfnab]

I'm currently playing a Witch Doctor right now. Dread Necromancer // Hexblade seems close. You get the Zombie summons from DN and the Hex type stuff from the Hexblade. You could take the Dark Companion variant for Hexblade and fluff it as one of your "fetishes".

OA Shaman could work as well. Choose the Ancestor Domain and the Grave Domain. If you could replace the animal companion with an undead version then you're set. Again put Hexblade on the other side.

[killianh]

I would suggest Dread Necro as the flavour class, as for the other side how about trying to PrC into Vermin lord from BoVD to cover things like the swarms and toad and such?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

I've only played a Mage in D3, but from what I've seen a Witch Doctor just summons mobs that look the same as the stuff I shoot, and it's extremely confusing.

I'd use Human or similar, so you can pick any class for the full progression side.

Check out the Hexer prestige class in Masters of the Wild. Going Archivist (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20051007a&page=3) into that would probably be ideal for the cursing/debuffing route, plus you could cast any summoning spell in the game. You'll need some sort of 'other primitive humanoid' for your race, which could be as simple as a backstory of a primitive culture for whatever race you choose.

From there, just pick whatever spells would best represent a Witch Doctor's abilities. Wall of Smoke, Wall of Limbs, Summon Swarm, Summon Undead, Baleful Polymorph, Summon Nature's Ally (spiders), Poison, etc. Remember that an Archivist can learn any divine spell, so the Druid, Ranger, Paladin, and even Adept (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/npcClasses/adept.htm) lists are fair game, Divine Bard (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#bardVariantDivineBard) spells are a possibility, and any spell that appears on a domain list gives Archivist the biggest potential selection of spells of any class. The Slime domain has some fitting spells, and you'll need to learn Lightning Bolt from the Adept list to qualify for Hexer. Metamagic feats from Libris Mortis such as Fell Animate and Fell Drain would be suitable. Get Black Tentacles via the Slime domain and use Fell Drain with it to so the constrict damage also deals a negative level.

Here's a useful guide on the Archivist class in general. (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?PHPSESSID=do97sdjs1tat0c7ebf2lnad7f6&topic=3545.0)

Gestalt... I don't even know. Hexer spellcasting advancement isn't limited to a divine class, so you could totally go Archivist 20// Wizard 5/ Hexer 10/ Paragnostic Apostle or Thaumaturgist 5. Specialize in Conjuration, get the UA ACFs (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#conjurerVariants), and see if you can take Obtain Familiar (CA) so you can trade it for Abrupt Jaunt (PH2), since you'll have traded your built-in familiar for Rapid Summoning. See if you can apply Rapid Summoning to your Summon Undead/Nature's Ally spells as well. I'd use the Wizard casting for offensive spells, and Archivist for mostly summons and buffs. Consider dipping a level of (Cloistered) Cleric on the Wizard side for Turn/Rebuke Undead to power Divine Metamagic, plus get Travel Devotion, Knowledge Devotion, and the Undeath domain.

[Waker]

Well, I'm not overly familiar with the Witch Doctor, what with me not playing the game, but if you wanted a lot of undead and debuffing action, how about Dread Necro//Bard/Dirgesinger? Dread Necro would give you plenty of the undead themed powers and spells. Bard would grant plenty of skill points, good refl, some more profiencies, a great deal of utility and buff/debuff spells, plus the Bardic music can be pretty useful.