- Pets are being buffed. Zombie Dogs now have their own version of Force Armor, and have a maximum cap on the damage they can take in one hit that varies with armor and resistances.
- Vision Quest is being revamped. In 1.0.4, using a primary skill with VQ will increase mana regeneration by 30% for 5 seconds.
- Base mana regeneration is increased from 20 to 45 per second
- Casting animations are faster and unpopular choices like Acid Cloud, Firebats, Firebomb, and Spirit Barrage are getting damage upgrades.
My take: the VQ change is unpopular but I think once WDs try to make bears work without VQ they will realize that it was never necessary in the first place, and the passive mana buff will more than compensate for their loss.
I've been farming Act 3 for a long time without VQ and I never have mana issues. With the passive mana buff I can afford to lose mana regen on my voodoo mask and use one with much better int / crit / vit rolls. Buffed pets are going to be a huge help to DPS builds, allowing WDs to maneuver around the enemy and get to optimal ZB spam areas without having to pop spirit walk or take a lot of damage. If the buffs to unpopular skills work, witch doctors should be able to compete with the other classes in farming efficiency after this patch.
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