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Animal Courier
Iron BranchIron BranchIron Branch
Gauntlets of Strength
Tango
Boots of Speed
Urn of Shadows
Magic Wand
Observer Ward
Town Portal Scroll
Flying Courier
Mekansm
Phase Boots
Observer Ward
Town Portal Scroll
Pipe of Insight
Dagon 1
Necronomicon
Eul's Scepter of Divinity
Rod of Atos
Scythe of Vyse
Shiva's Guard
Shadow Blade
Black King Bar
Aghanim's Scepter
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Hello and welcome to Malpractice makes perfect ~ Witch Doctor Guide! This is my first guide here on dotafire but have had many successful games as Witch Doctor along with him personally being one of my personal favorite heroes. This guide will go over how to play his as a support role and what that entails game play wise.
Q: Paralyzing Cask - Your stun. Stuns are very valuable in Dota2 and Witch Doctor's stun is a mighty fine one with the right situation. Now this isn't the doctor's cure all for every time you need a stun. If you have one enemy hero and an entire wave of creep, chances are the Cask will hit more creep then hero. But say you have two enemy heroes and no enemy creeps, this spell becomes a powerful sedative. Ideally this spell is best for +2 heroes and low amounts of enemy creep, though it isn't bad for pushing a lane seeing as the stun on creeps last 5 seconds.
W: Voodoo Restoration - A powerful but costly healing spell. This spell turns the tide of battles or makes an otherwise hopeless escape possible. At a massive 40 hp/sec at level 4, this healing spell is an amazing and reliable. While Early and stating Mid game this spell isn't as good as your healing items it has one advantage late game that they don't have; No Cooldown!
E: Maledict - Both a damage over time(DoT) and a semi-damage amplifier. This amplifying part is not in the traditional sense, it doesn't decrease the armor or magic resistance of the foe but when someone under the effects of Maledict takes more then 100 damage another 40 is added to the next wave of damage. This DoT is your main assist and conferring kill tool. Make sure you got an ally with you to get the most damage into the spell before the enemy gets away. Great for tank busting too! Beware the very short casting distance! (Note: Tidehunter being an exception.)
R: Death Ward - A powerful damaging ward only the Witch Doctor can control. A great damage spell but also makes the Witch Doctor an easy target. You do need to channel this spell but with the correct positioning and help from items you can pull off the the full channel with ease. The best part about this spell is when maxed, the shots will also bounce from one hero to another, ripping teams apart who dare stay in its range.
~Starting~
Simple enough: Chick for your team, 3 iron braces, a gauntlet of strength, and tangos. As a support you should be getting the chick for your team which sadly leaves you with little money. But Iron Branches are the cure! These cheep little guys stack very well to give you 3 in all attributes and much needed Intelligence early game to help last hit. The Gauntlet of Strength is there help take some hits and build into an early Urn.
~Early~
Seems like a lot of items but if you farm well and gain some assists should be a cake walk. Id recommend grabbing boots first(but i just like knowing i could get out of a bad scenario quicker). After your new pair of boots you can grab your Magic wand or Urn (Urn if you and your laneing partner are aggressive, Magic wand if defensive.)Don't forget to update the chick and have a Town Portal Scroll(TPScroll) on hand for pushes or defends.
~Why Urn of Shadows?
-The Urn of Shadows is, personally, the best healing item you could grab on any support. Heals 400 hp/8sec OR deal 150dmg/8sec and all you need to be is close to the action. Best part is it costs 0 mana and has a 10 second cool down. But the usefulness of this item isn't done yet. The Maledict and Urn combo on an enemy is cheap, easy, and effective. Also take note that the healing will be canceled if an enemy hero or tower inflicts damage on you, so it is great to use when pushing lanes on low HP.
~Urn or Drum
-A friend of mine brought up a good argument that i forgot, What if someone already has an Urn? Someone like Night Stalker can gain charges on the Urn far faster then you can and as long as NS isn't using it for just himself then the effectiveness of your Urn diminishes greatly. The cure is the Drum of Endurance. This lovely little drum is a little bit more then your Urn but is a great chasing and escape tool. Do remember though that after 4 uses you have to recharge it. Weigh out the pick between the two items depending on your team (though i always favor Urn)
Now I have always had a problem when to buy wards. 'Wards win games' gets used alot and for good reason. They win games! They show what enemies are up to and where runes are for your allies. But when should you get them? Keep an eye out on the game. If it looks like the enemy team, more so the enemy's mid, is active then get wards asap. You are a useful part of your team, but that doesn't entail you need to be farming all the time. If the game seems quiet on their end then wait till around level 6 or when the first tower is destroyed(Yours or theirs).
~Core~
Ahh yes Mid game. Time to shine! By this time you should have all of the early items. Depending on how well you are doing grab Phase Boots or Mekansm(Phase for the Offence, Meka for the Defence)Don't forget to update the wards and carry a TPscroll. Your source of money now is pushing lanes and assisting in team fights.
~Why Phase Boots?
-Phase gives some nice attack damage when it would be unwise to Ult (say one enemy). But more importantly it helps the Witch Doctor get from point A to B faster. Helps on escaping and warding.
~Meka or Pipe?
-Purely depends on the enemy team. If you are up against about 4 casters (Magic damage heavy heroes) then a pipe could be far more useful. Also check your teams items, if someone is already going into Meka, go pipe. (Note: If you go Drum over Urn and Pipe over Meka then your only way you are healing is though your W, so plan skill points accordingly)
~Late (Situational)~
Late game time! Time to get personal! Well item wise that is. With your spells and supportive items you could now go into items that make the Witch Doctor better and more on the offensive.
Pipe of Insight
-The reason i have this here is encase you're team is doing well but a bit squishy, or on the defense. The 400 magic damage barrier is great to have in any case, least the enemy is full of auto-attackers.
Dagon
-This item is more in here if you are doing VERY WELL team wise. I do not suggest this in any other case, reason being that Dagon scales poorly late game and is very costly when the money could be put into something more useful. The Burst damage is nicely paired with Maledict in adding 160 damage to the next wave of Maledict. A nice cure for them tankish foes.
Necronomicon
-A fun little book the Witch Doctor could have in is library of spells. Scales better then Dagon because of the perks your summons have at level 3. They help out Malediction along with the team with their Auras. Because they are under your control some micro management is needed but are great for scouting and punishing anyone who focuses the Melee Demon down.
Elu's Scepter of Divinity (Tornado Stick)
-Much much cheaper then sheep stick but at the cost of removing the foe from all damage for 2.5 seconds. If income is low then it is still a nice Crowd Control (CC) to have. Should always be used on the more dangerous of enemy heroes so their supports may be focused down much easier. Also perfect for chasing. Note: This could actually be used on yourself to avoid some harm in a team fight, but is mostly unwise seeing as it removes you from helping in the team fight as well as giving time for the enemy team to position to murder you faster.
Rod of Atos (Rabbit Stick)
-Alright so i have no idea if its fun name really is Rabbit Stick but it looks like one. Anyway, the Rabbit Stick is a nice item to puck up if full stuns and disables are plenty on your team but slows are not. Can't Murder someone if you can't catch up to the right? Gives a nice bit of HP as well which the Witch Doctor could always benefit from.
Scythe of Vyse (Sheep Stick)
-Good old Sheep Stick! Easily the best CC stick that gives all the other CC Sticks the envys, though for a costly price. Gives great stats and mana regeneration (which is always a + for Voodoo Restoration) but where it shines the most is with Hex. Hex turns the enemy into a pig (use to be a sheep) for 3.5 seconds while removing all evasive and damage blocking buffs and turning their base movement speed to 100. A pig waiting for the slaughter at the hands of your team mates.
Shiva's Guard
-Now this is more recommended for Heroes like Tiny, Sand King, Earthshaker, and Tidehunter seeing as they get up close and personal with the enemy. But seeing as Maledict's range is pretty up close as it is, Shiva's Guard doesn't look so bad. This item is great if not just one person on the enemy team is looking pretty threatening. Best combo for this would be Maledict -> Shiva's Guard -> Death Ward
~Core Extension~
This area is more when you hit level 25 and Magic Stick's usefulness has run dry.
Aghanim's Scepter (Ult Scepter)
-This one is debatable on where it should be. If you can feel like you can get this around level 16 and your team does not need any more item support at the moment then feel free to grab this. It helps the Witch Doctor so much in both stats and his ult. For Death ward at level 2 with the ult scepter the ward will target 2 heroes and bounce once. At level 3 with ult scepter it will target 3 heroes and bounce twice. This means every 1 shot, at level 3, will deal 150 dmg to 3 heroes in full. Now every shot is fired off every .3 seconds for a total channeling time of 8 seconds. That is a lot of damage!
Black King Bar (BkB)
- BkB's main use is for magic immunity. This item is great for getting the full use of Death Ward out without the risk of the channel being disrupted. The exception to this is some abilities that are embedded in physical attacks that may cause stuns(Ex: Sladar's Bash works though magic immunity, but Sniper's Headshot does not)
Shadow Blade (Lothar's)
-Lothar's is the old name for Shadow Blade back in DoTA and is still sometimes used by players. Now Lothar's seems like a silly item on the Witch Doctor, it is normally used on assassination style characters. But one thing that is fun to note is that you can activate Lothar's and go into Shadow Walk without breaking the Channel on Death Ward! Hard to hit something they can't see! Shadow Walk lasts for 9 seconds and your ward lasts for 8. So if you use Lothar's a second after your ward is cast, you have a free 2 seconds to position yourself for a new stun or an added +150 damage to your normal attack. Do note however this will not save you from AoE Stuns like Tidehunter's Ravage, Slardar's Slithereen Crush Crush, or Tiny's Avalanche (to name a few AoE Stuns)
The Witch Doctor is the jack of all trades support. He can stun, heal, cause a foe to be focused down much easier, and can deal damage of his own. Honestly he fits in about every team who needs a support. Sadly he is outdone in all fields by supports who specialize in areas(Dazzle for healing, Lich for Damage, Crystal Maiden for CCs). His is a great starting hero but deadly in the right hands. If I had to stress anything on the Witch Doctor when it comes to gameplay is location, location, location. Items like Shadow Blade and BkB become irrelevant when you learn the range and right location where the Witch Doctor both be save but be useful as well. This leaves an entirely new item slot for him to abuse for his team making him that much more useful or deadly.
~Enjoy your rounds!
(For general Support guideline check out http://www.dotafire.com/dota-2/guide/how-to-become-a-good-competitive-player-394)
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