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I Hear the Summons...
-=A Beginner's Guide to Witch Doctor=-

INTRODUCTION

Hi guys! This is my second guide so I'm still kinda learning the ropes. If you could provide feedback BEFORE you cast your vote on this guide that would be nice because you can only vote once. Much like my Warlock guide, this isn't written as an advanced guide teaching you all the special tips and tricks. It's about getting to know the basics of how to play Witch Doctor, so if you have finished this guide and realise I haven't spoken in any kind of detail about warding and counter-warding, that's because Lycan's warding guide "Seeing is believing or rape" does a much better job than I ever could, but also because detailed warding is not within the scope of this guide. So please don't downgrade this guide because of aspects that are NOT meant to be in a beginner's guide. With that, let's begin!

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Contents
1. Advanced Statistics
2. Abilities
spaceParalysing Cask
spaceVoodoo Restoration
spaceMaledict
spaceDeath Ward
3. Hero Role
4. Items
spaceUpfront Items
spaceCore Items
spaceOther Items
spaceRejected Items
5. Skill Build
6. Game Breakdown
7. Allies and Enemies
spaceBestest Buddies
spaceWorst Enemies
8. Tips and Suggestions
9. Replays

Strength

-Agility

Intelligence

_____

16 + 1.8

-13 + 1.4

24 + 2.9

492

312

Affiliation: Neutral _____ Attack Animation: 0.4 / 0.5
Damage: 51 - 61 Casting Animation: 0.35 / 0.52
Armor: 0.9 Base Attack Time: 1.7
Movespeed: 305 Missile Speed: 1200
Attack Range: 600 Sight Range: 1800 / 800

From Witch Doctor's info page: The Witch Doctor is a fragile but deadly spellcaster with a unique method of eliminating his foes. His Maledict ability is feared by all, and has the potential for enormous amounts of damage. Heroes under the effect of Maledict will continue to take damage based on how much damage they have taken already. Using Paralyzing Casks, a clever Witch Doctor immobilizes his target, casts Maledict on them, then proceeds to cause as much damage as possible before they run. This is nearly always fatal if the Witch Doctor and his allies can injure the target a good amount after it is Maledicted. To aid in the delayed destruction of his enemies, the Witch Doctor can plant a potent Death Ward, which rapidly attacks nearby heroes as long as the Witch Doctor channels it. Combined with Maledict and Paralyzing Cask, Death Ward is practically a guaranteed kill when ambushing an unsuspecting enemy hero. Voodoo Restoration turns him into a mobile healing fountain, quickly restoring the life of the Doctor and his allies in case an ambush doesn't go according to plan. Although the Witch Doctor's Maledict combo is lethal on its own, it is even more dangerous when combined with allied attacks and spells.

Vol'Jin is a risk-taker. Anyone who has ever crossed paths with him can tell you that. As a voodoo priest, you need a certain degree of it. It's too bad he never learned the value of discretion. Vol'Jin's experiments in jungle magic yielded brilliant results- the ability to mend wounds, casks filled with paralyzing combinations of herbs that could scatter for miles, and even a curse capable of stripping the life force from a living being. Of course, no amount of power gained goes without notice. As Vol'Jin's experiments became more and more unstable and destructive, the Lich King made his move.

Let's look at these statistics in more depth. Firstly, Witch Doctor has a fairly sad strength gain (1.8) and not the best starting health. He is a fragile spell caster who really doesn't have that much survivability. This lack of strength and strength gain makes him item dependent for survivability, so things like Bracers/Nulls and late game a Heart of Tarrasque will help keep you alive. You have an even sadder agility gain (1.4), so don't bother with DPS items, since DPSing isn't Witch Doctor's role anyway. However he DOES have a fast missile speed (1200) which makes last hitting easier. Vol'jin's intelligence gain, however, is high along with his starting intelligence, giving a fairly large mana pool early on (312 mana). His intelligence gain of 2.9 means he will generally always have a fairly large mana pool, which makes casting spells easier. On the mana side of Witch Doctor, he needs mana regen ahead of intelligence, since his intelligence gain will generally suffice.

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		Paralyzing Cask_________		Vol'Jin launches a cask of paralyzing powder that bounces between foes, stunning those affected for a short period of time (1 sec on Hero, 5 on creeps). Deals damage per bounce.
		Ability Type:		Active
		Targeting Type:		Unit
		Ability Hotkey:		C

Level	Mana Cost	Cooldown	Casting Range	Area of Effect	Duration	Allowed Targets	Effects
1	110	20 seconds	700	600	1 second on heroes/5 seconds on creeps	Enemy units	2 bounces, 75 damage to units, 50 damage to heroes
2	120	18 seconds	700	600	1 second on heroes/5 seconds on creeps	Enemy units	4 bounces, 100 damage to units, 50 damage to heroes
3	130	16 seconds	700	600	1 second on heroes/5 seconds on creeps	Enemy units	6 bounces, 125 damage to units, 50 damage to heroes
4	140	14 seconds	700	600	1 second on heroes/5 seconds on creeps	Enemy units	8 bounces, 150 damage to units, 50 damage to heroes

Notes

Damage Type: Magical
Targets can be hit multiple times, as long as another unit is struck in between the bounces.
Area of Effect specifies the range it can bounce.

		Voodoo Restoration_________		Vol'Jin focuses his voodoo magic to heal nearby allied units.
		Ability Type:		Toggle
		Targeting Type:		Instant
		Ability Hotkey:		V

Level

Mana Cost

Cooldown

Casting Range

Area of Effect

Duration

Allowed Targets

Effects

25 initial + 8/sec

0 seconds

N/A

340

Until Deactivated

Self / Allied units

Restores 16 hp/sec

50 initial +14/sec

0 seconds

N/A

340

Until Deactivated

Self / Allied units

Restores 24 hp/sec

75 initial +20/sec

0 seconds

N/A

340

Until Deactivated

Self / Allied units

Restores 32 hp/sec

100 initial +26/sec

0 seconds

N/A

340

Until Deactivated

Self / Allied units

Restores 40 hp/sec

Notes

Heal is applied in 0.33 second intervals.
Can heal magic immune units

		Maledict_________		Targets an area with an ancient voodoo curse. Cursed heroes will not only take damage over time, but they will be dealt bonus damage every 4 seconds based on how much hp they lost since the beginning of the curse. Lasts 12 seconds.
		Ability Type:		Active
		Targeting Type:		Area
		Ability Hotkey:		E

Level	Mana Cost	Cooldown	Casting Range	Area of Effect	Duration	Allowed Targets	Effects
1	120	35 seconds	400	165	12 seconds	Enemy Heroes	Enemies lose 5 hp/sec, 10 bonus damage for every 100 hp lost during curse
2	120	35 seconds	400	165	12 seconds	Enemy Heroes	Enemies lose 10 hp/sec, 20 bonus damage for every 100 hp lost during curse
3	120	35 seconds	400	165	12 seconds	Enemy Heroes	Enemies lose 15 hp/sec, 30 bonus damage for every 100 hp lost during curse
4	120	35 seconds	400	165	12 seconds	Enemy Heroes	Enemies lose 20 hp/sec, 40 bonus damage for every 100 hp lost during curse

Notes

Damage type: magical
Damage is based on the difference between the HP values currently and when Maledict was cast.

		Death Ward_________		Summons a deadly ward to attack enemy heroes.
		Ability Type:		Active
		Targeting Type:		Point
		Ability Hotkey:		D

Level

Mana Cost

Cooldown

Casting Range

Area of Effect

Duration

Allowed Targets

Effects

200

90 seconds

300

N/A

8 seconds

Enemy Heroes

60 (90*) Chaos Damage

200

90 seconds

350

N/A

8 seconds

Enemy Heroes

90 Chaos Damage (120 Chaos Damage, bounces once*)

200

90 seconds

400

N/A

8 seconds

Enemy Heroes

120 Chaos Damage, bounces once (150 Chaos Damage, hits 3 targets at once*)

Notes

The Death Ward is invulnerable, and can only be destroyed if its duration expires or if Vol'Jin is interrupted.
The Death Ward can be controlled and made to attack a specific target.
The Death Ward is automatically added to your unit selection upon casting.
Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter (* shows the improved values).
The Death Ward has a 700 attack range and attacks every 0.3 seconds.

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Now that we have looked at Witch Doctor's abilities, it's time to discuss his role in a team. His role is a semi-initiator and ganker. Thanks to Maledict, he's also a fantastic finisher, with the bonus damage from Maledict able to finish off fleeing heroes before they can get to safety. This is especially true if the fleeing hero(es) has/have been taking damage from your Death Ward. Regarding the sem-initiator, Paralysing Cask has a great casting range, meaning you can cast it from relative safety to briefly disable the enemy heroes to allow your tank to initiate the team fight.

Another role Witch Doctor has is to be the team ward-placer. I won't cover warding in any kind of depth in this guide, however you can read all about it in Lycan's Warding Guide - Seeing is Believing or Rape. However I will say that as a heavy ganker, being able to ward at even a basic level can be important for you because your ganking style requires getting up close and personal with an enemy, so knowing if there are any surprises waiting for you is often times vital.

All I'll provide is the following map (courtesy of Lycan's guide) to show you some places you can put wards as the team ward placer.

With the (very) basic facts about your warding role done, I'll move on. With Voodoo Restoration you can also be called upon to provide regeneration for your allies, since you are the support hero. 40 hp/sec is quite substantial and it's equal to the regeneration of HoT on a hero with 2k health, so it's quite a lot of regeneration. With a decent mana regenerative item, Voodoo can be left switched on for extended periods of time before you need to stop.

As a ganker, Witch Doctor needs to be part of a team. One man ganking strategies will likely get you killed so it's best if you have some backup when you go ambushing. With that backup, you are more likely to come out alive, or at the very least with a kill or assist. Don't be disappointed if you get mostly assists and only a few kills, you're a supportive ganker, that's how it's meant to be. That said, thanks to Maledict, you will likely score your fair share of "last hits" thanks to it's accumulated damage.

Hopefully now you have a grasp of the role of Witch Doctor within a team, now it's time to move on to items.

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i. Upfront Items

When it comes to buying start items for Witch Doctor, there are a few ways you can go. I will examine 3 with randoming Witch Doctor and 3 with choosing Witch Doctor. In all builds I have included 1 lot of Observer Wards, because warding is part of your role, and whatever lane you chose, you will be able to place those two wards in strategic places, based on the map in this guide OR Lycan's warding guide.
All Random/-random
Items (a) - 789 gold (2 Tangos)

Places an Observer Ward to give sight of the surrounding area, Observer Ward has 1600 vision, 200 HP, and is invisible, Observer Ward lasts 6 minutes	Eats a tree to restore 115 HP over 16 seconds, has 3 charges
+1 to all attributes
	Restores 100 mana over 30 seconds, dispels on attack

This build provides for most of Witch Doctor's basic needs. HP, MP, mana regeneration and vision. The +3 all-stats boosts your health from 492 up to 549, you mana from 312 to 351, giving you more mana with which to cast your spells. The tangos are for health regeneration and the Clarities give you some handy mana regeneration.

Items (b) - 776 gold


	Restores 400hp over 10 seconds, dispels on attack
+2 to all attributes

If you are facing a more harassing lineup, then this build may be more appropriate. Not only does it provide more health and mana, but also better health replenishment through a healing salve. This build beefs your health up to 606, your mana to 390. This build provides more mana and health than before, but it lacks the mana regeneration of the Clarity potions.

Items (c) - 756 gold


	Gains a charge when nearby enemies cast a spell, when activated, restores 15hp and 15mp for each charge, max 10 charges
+3 strength

This build is more suited to when the enemy team has spammy spell casters like Zeus, Rooftrellen, Troll Warlord, etc. Heroes who can cast away all day and seem like they never run out of mana. Magic Stick allows you to have an extra emergency heal when you need it, provided it has charges, the Gauntlet provides bumper health, in this case 587hp, however it gives little mana, just 338.

All pick/Single Draft/Random Draft
Items (a) - 599 gold (3 clarities)

Almost identical to the first All random build, this time with just 1 tango and 3 clarities. And all with just 4 gold to spare as well.

Items (b) - 553 gold

This offers few stats but it gives you a buffer against casters who love spamming spells. Magic Stick when fully charged can give a 150hp/mp instant heal which can be very very useful, the Salve gives a further buffer.

Items (c) - 559 gold (2 Clarities)

Stats, Clarities, Salve and wards. Everything Witch Doctor needs early on to stay in lane. 2 Clarities should be enough to see you through the first 5 or 6 minutes of the game if you have a steady flow of spells, the Salve should help to keep you alive if you get ganked but manage to escape.

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ii. Core Items

	Core Items		+60 movement speed, +25 attack speed, +8str/agi/int	+3 all attributes, Energy Charge (restores 15hp/mp per charge, charges gain from nearby enemy spellcasting, max 15 charges)	+6 strength, +50% mana regen, gains charges when enemy heroes die nearby, each charge can heal for 400hp or damage for 200hp over 8 seconds			Core Extension	+10 strength, +24 damage, Magic Immunity for 10/9/8/7/6/5 seconds	or +10 all attributes, 200 HP, 150 MP, improves your ultimate
	Optional Replacements	Places a Sentry Ward to give True Sight of the surrounding area, Sentry Ward has 200 vision, 800 AoE True Sight, 200 HP, and is invisible		Restores 135hp/70mp over 3 seconds, 3 charges, can be used to store runes for up to 2 minutes	+6 strength, +3 agility and intelligence, +3 damage +10 intelligence, +150% mana regen, +25 movement speed, can cast Cyclone			Optional Replacements	+7 all attributes, renders you immune to physical damage but you take 40% more damage from spells +38 damage, +10 attack speed, Wind Walk (9 seconds, 125 backstab damage)

As I have said multiple times before, because you are a ganker, you are going to be moving around a fair bit. So while you are moving around, you will have a chance to fulfil your other role as team warder, like placing wards at the rune spawn points, among other places. It's always handy to have a set of wards in case they are needed.

Basic boots are good. Power Treads are better. They give Witch Doctor higher MS, survivability if you use strength Treads, and if you've managed to rush them, last-hitting help with the attack speed. They are more expensive than stopping with just regular boots, but they are a great item for all games. The recent nerf of the attributes makes them slightly less desirable but nonetheless they are still a great item.

Providing the same survivability in terms of strength as a bracer, Urn of Shadows comes with bonus mana regeneration and an active ability that encourages being part of team fights and ganking. The more kills you get the more heals/DoT you get. Generally speaking, it's always best to buy an Urn in stead of a Bracer because of the extra bonuses the Urn gives which benefit Witch Doctor so much more than the stats of a Bracer. Not only that, but when you use the active ability on an enemy, you can boost your damage output from Maledict dramatically. 200 bonus damage over time is very good at negating regeneration late game.

As with most early game item builds, Magic Wand is a great little item for surviving against annoying harass casters and spammy casters who just love to cast spells. Giving +3 to all stats and the Energy Charge, Wand is a good early game item you can generally rely on to deliver.

Core Extension

Ok. Black King Bar. It's main draw cards are the +10 strength, which increases your health by 190 and the Avatar ability, which gives magic immunity for a short time. Because your ultimate is a channelling spell, you are left vulnerable to stuns and other interrupting spells. And while each use of BKB reduces it's duration by 1 second (with a minimum of 5 seconds) it's still a very very useful item because of that protection that only ultimates can penetrate. This item is a must for Witch Doctor.

Sure, this is expensive, but it improves your ultimate a heap (allows you to damage up to 3 heroes at a time and deal 500 damage per second to each). It gives survivability through the +200hp and +10 strength, totalling 390hp, which isn't bad. The +130 mana from 10 intelligence is also very handy. To start off with, you should get an Ogre Axe to give you the flexibility of buying this or a BKB, depending on which one you prefer to choose.

Optional Replacements

Sometimes it is necessary to place Sentry Wards to weed out those pesky assassins and their invisibility. So in that case you should carry sentry wards or if you prefer you could carry dust for ganks but Observer Wards > Sentry Wards > Dust > Gem for the purposes of this guide.

As an option, you could feasibly get a Bottle instead of a Wand. Both are ganker oriented items and both provide HP/MP restoration, but in different ways. Wand is my preferred item because you also get stats and you don't need to make a fountain or rune trip to have it restored. Bottle, on the other hand, doesn't need enemy spell casting in order to be of use, so it's more a matter of preference...but I still like Wand > Bottle.

If the enemy team is full of DPS hard carries like Troll Warlord, Ursa Warrior, Drow Ranger, Clinkz, and other heroes without high-powered nukes, then a Ghost Scepter is a much better option because BKB doesn't protect from physical attacks, this does, but at the cost of taking 40% extra damage from spells.

This item may seem thoroughly strange but in fact Wind Walk has a nicely hidden secret. If you start channelling a spell then go into a Wind Walk, YOU WON'T STOP CHANNELLING. Basically, you can keep casting your ultimate while invisible, rendering you immune to everything except true sight and AoE spells. If you think you can do it, go for it. This tactic is just as good as using a BKB or Ghost Scepter, it's really just a matter of choice in the end.

If you are facing faster MS heroes, you may wish to swap a bracer for a Eul's Scepter because of the bonus 25 MS and the Cyclone Disable, which allows you to either get away or get into position to destroy them. The mana regeneration is very useful as well.

With his crappy strength gain, Witch Doctor needs survivability. And a bracer combined with a BKB adds 304hp, which is not a bad boost. It also adds to his mana pool with the bonus intelligence. The agility is negligible so buy Bracers for the strength they give. Good and relatively cheap survivability, but an Urn is preferable. If you already have an Urn and need more HP, then buy a Bracer.

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iii. Other

Providing area of effect magic amplification, this works wonders with Maledict. However it is a rather pricey item so I wouldn't recommend rushing it or putting it ahead of your core items. Good item, but get this after your core.

Introduced in 6.68, Arcane Boots replaced the dying Arcane Ring. An excellent item in team-push strat games, it bumps your mana pool up, grants burst mana replenishment to everyone around you and gives the same MS as the old Power Treads (65). However, be aware that these boots offer no survivability, of which Witch Doctor has very little. If you have adopted a team-push strat, then you are a good candidate for buying, being the the support hero, but if this isn't the case, I generally don't think they are his best boots option.

A recent addition to the game, Soul Ring is a great burst mana item. I've personally not bought Soul Ring on Witch Doctor but it can work early game if you aren't having money problems. While I would recommend Urn over Soul Ring, that's not to say Soul Ring isn't a good item for Witch Doctor, since your healing ability negates the HP loss easily.

A very decent item thanks to Return, so for 4 seconds any damage you take is returned in full to the hero who dealt it to you. This can be of great value when channeling Death Ward, because it provides a layer of protection and deterrence against enemy heroes. Blade Mail is worth considering against any lineup.

Orchid gives massive mana regeneration and a damage amplification ability which synergises perfectly with Maledict, provided you can deal enough damage to the enemy which Soul Burn is active. Another late game luxury item to buy if you have the gold and time. The bonus 20 intelligence is pretty nice too.

Ahh, hex. Late game the 3.5 second disable can allow you to deal a whole heap of damage with your ultimate, since hex reduces enemy MS to 100, meaning they can't run. However it's expensive and time consuming to farm up. A great item though if you can make it.

A very useful item in the right hands. At level 3, Necrobook is a very powerful item if you can micro properly. Using the summons to deal extra damage to Maledicted enemy heroes and the true sight to make sure invis heroes cannot escape your wrath can net you a few extra handy kills. A difficult item to use well but a good item.

Before you dismiss Dagon as a noobish item fit for only a few heroes, think about Maledict. A level 1 Dagon deals 400 damage and combined with level 4 Maledict, that's an extra 160 bonus damage from Maledict, and according to the calculations I did above, if you used the Dagon before the first proc of Maledict, then the total damage will be about 700 damage, which combined with the original Dagon damage amounts to about 1100 damage. So depending on the situation, Dagon can be a very good option, but don't rely on it. Death Ward > Dagon, but Dagon definitely helps for sure.

Late game you should definitely upgrade your regular boots to Boots of Travel for the ability to reach ganks at global range with ease. The +95 movespeed alone takes you to 400ms. Expensive but worth it.

Not always bought on Witch Doctor, but due to his need to get up close and personal with his enemies in order to kill them, he's likely to get damaged in his attempts, so a Mekansm is a decent item. But don't buy it as core, because it's not that great on him, but it's ok.

Ahh, the good ol' Heart of Tarrasque. Despite it having been hard nerfed in the regeneration department, it is still a very good, if not the best, tanking item and gives epic amounts of health (1,060) which means you will last longer in team fights while channeling your ultimate. Expensive but worth the price. A good post-core item if you can afford it.

Although rather expensive (2150 gold), the Blink Dagger can assist you greatly when it comes to positioning yourself with Death Ward. BKB + Blink + Combo or Blink + Combo + Wind Walk or Blink + Combo + Ethereal can be much easier than trying to walk into the middle of an enemy push and risk dying along the way. This way you get to where you need to be fast and easily, however the price can be somewhat prohibitive.

iv. Rejected Items

Please ignore any DPS items. Witch Doctor does not hard carry and he certainly doesn't do it with his physical attack. These items are basically a complete waste of money.

Another wasted item. Witch Doctor doesn't need the attack speed so please don't buy attack speed items for him. Assault Cuirass is one of those items.

Please. Just no. Two Death Wards may seem enticing, but it really isn't worth it. Steer clear of this expensive white elephant.

While there are some support heroes who can justifiably buy Vladmir's Offering (Warlock, Crystal Maiden, Chen) on Witch Doctor I do not believe it is worth it. You are an offensive ganker, not a team fight supporter, and hence Vladmir's does not fit your style. Do not buy.

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Ganking/Roaming skill build - recommended
Skills in bold indicate primary skill choices.

Level	Ability
1.	Paralyzing Cask
2.	Maledict
3.*	Paralyzing Cask /Maledict
4.	Maledict /Paralyzing Cask
5.*	Maledict
6.	Death Ward
7.	Paralyzing Cask /Maledict
8.	Maledict
9.	Paralyzing Cask
10.	Voodoo Restoration
11.	Death Ward
12.	Voodoo Restoration /Stats
13.	Voodoo Restoration /Stats
14.	Voodoo Restoration
15.	Stats
16.	Death Ward
17+	Stats

*Optionally Voodoo Restoration can be taken here if the laning situation isn't looking good or you are looking to babysit your lane partner

Justification:
As a ganker, you really need to max Maledict and Paralyzing Cask as soon as you can, preferably by level 9. I need not impress upon you that Death Ward be taken whenever possible, because it's obvious that it should be so. Once Maledict and Paralyzing Cask are maxed, we can take Voodoo Restoration because it's not as important in your role as your other skills. Optionally you can take some stats if you are pressed for health and have little or no money. This build makes you ready to gank from level 6 onwards, once you have Death Ward.

If the lane situation looks grim, for instance if you are laning against Zeus and Lion for instance, then perhaps swap 1 level each of Maledict and Paralyzing Cask for 2 levels of Voodoo Restoration at levels 3 and 5, in order to keep you alive against their vicious nukes and disables. You can then take those levels of Paralyzing Cask and Maledict later on, when you would normally take the first two levels of Voodoo Restoration. Equally, you can take those levels of Voodoo Restoration if you are looking to play babysit to your lane partner because you are definitely capable of doing so. You may be a ganker, but the AoE healing alone qualifies you for early babysitting so don't discard it out of hand.

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Early Game: 1 - 8
Early game is important for Witch Doctor because as a ganker/roamer, you want to be able to get an Urn and a Wand or Bottle as fast as you can because they will help you out tremendously post-ganks. In lane, try to get a few last hits on creeps to farm up the extra gold for the two aforementioned items, if your lane partner is the team's tank or carry, let them get most of the last hits, but still take a few for yourself. If you are laning with another support, share the last hits equally because likely you will both need gold. Once you get your first level of Death Ward, try to set up one or two ganks with other teammates because you are now a powerful ganking machine. Remember, when you gank, stun, Maledict, Death Ward in that order. Don't be too greedy or ambitious though when trying to score a kill. You are not a chaser and the only reason you can be called a finisher is thanks to Maledict. Don't give chase. If you can't kill them, try again next time. And certainly don't tower dive, not this early in the game.

Mid Game: 8 - 15
During the mid game you should be moving from gank to fountain to gank and repeat. By now you should definitely have both an Urn and a Magic Wand, along with Strength Treads, and be making a start on a Black King Bar OR Ghost Scepter OR Lothar's Edge depending on the enemy lineup. You should regularly replenish your wards because as a roamer, running into half the enemy team isn't going to be fun, so having a chance to avoid that is always worth while. It also helps because as a Rune whoring hero, it's good to know if there are runes with which you can refill your bottle or allow your teams mates to take if they are in need. By the time you reach level 15, you should hopefully be close to finishing your BKB or Aghanim's (whichever you decided to go for).

Late Game: 16 - 25
Once you reach level 17, you should've finished your chosen channel-protection item and be ganking as often as you can, but make sure that you are not going alone because 1-man ganking will inevitably get you killed when you least want to be killed. Try to gank with your team as often as you can to try and score as many kills to keep them under leveled. If you are stomping then maybe you can go it alone once in a while but don't get into that habbit. If you didn't decide to go for a channel-protection item, you should've gone for an Aghanim's Scepter instead. One way or another you won't generally be able to afford a BKB or Aghanim's, so make it your goal just to get your core items and be happy with that because not all games are going to allow you to farm up. If you are on the defensive, Paralyzing Cask is a great ability because it will hit up to 9 creeps, landing a 5 second stun on each while dealing decent amounts of damage. Voodoo Restoration allows your allows to tank creeps waves more effectively and it also keeps them alive and out of the fountain for longer.

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Bestest Buddies

Mass disablers keep enemy heroes in place while you Maledict and Death Ward them. Large AoE stuns/slows are your best friends when they are on your team. In particular, of these heroes, Rooftrellen, Warlock, Enigma and Tidehunter rank as probably the best in the mass disable area, with Overgrowth, Upheaval, Black Hole and Ravage respectively.

This group of heroes amplify either physical or magical damage, which increases the output of either Maledict or Death Ward nicely. They ensure that you don't need to deal as much damage to effect the same result: a kill. The best of this group are Sladar (-15 armour), Dirge (30% damage amplification, magic and physical) and Tauren Chieftain (-80% base magic damage reduction and -80% base armour).

In general, Witch Doctor loves allies who disable enemies and make them take more damage. If you have one of each on your team, you are already doing well.

While these heroes don't guarantee an instagib, should they properly land their ultimates, they will most certainly guarantee a kill. Bane with his massive 5 second disable, allow you to rape a targeted enemy np np, Finger of Death/Laguna blade dealing enormous amounts of damage. Huskar and Necro can deal insane amounts of damage instantly, Necro especially. If his ultimate doesn't kill the hero, Maledict most certainly will.

Diffusal Blade purchasers are wonderful allies for Witch Doctor. Diffusal Blade purchases who also produce copious numbers of mirror images are even better. In team fights and ganks these heroes act as your new best friends. Naga and PL both have disables or pseudo-disables which make them preferred to Spectre, however Spectre's Dispersion provides an extra damage output for Maledict so don't discount her potency in a gank.

Worst Enemies

These heroes can silence you into oblivion, rendering you completely and utterly useless. Silence is one of your deadliest enemies, because not only can it prevent you from casting a spell, but it can also interrupt your ultimate, because it requires continuous casting. Some silences are more painful than others (Doom, Puck deal damage to go with their silences), but they all have the same effect: rendering you useless in team fights.

Stunners are another nasty group of heroes you want to watch out for. They interrupt your ultimate, making you useless and they also deal a decent amount of damage to you in the process. Look out for these guys cos they can make your life very difficult.

Mana burning is another pain in the arse you will have to watch out for. No mana = no spells = useless hero. You can't do anything in a team fight without mana and so you have to try and steer clear of these pesky heroes.

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Paralyzing Cask:
Paralyzing Cask can be used for more than just ganking. Targeting up to 9 units, it's also a great pushing tool, disabling entire creeps waves for up to 5 seconds and dealing healthy damage, Paralyzing Cask can be great in pushing/counter-pushing strategies. On the defensive, it works just as well, taking out most of a creep wave for the best part of 5 seconds allows you and your allies to get into position to wipe out the offending creeps and get ready to either counter-push or defend against the next wave. And late game it's mana cost is relatively low so you can freely cast it and you aren't likely to run out of mana.

Voodoo Restoration:
In ganks and team fights, keeping Voodoo Restoration turned on can be a major asset to your team because of the 40HP/sec regeneration it provides in an area around you. While you are channeling Death Ward the extra health could prove invaluable. When defending, the extra regen can also allow you and your allies to tank super- and megacreeps more effectively.

Be Decisive:
If you only have enough mana to cast EITHER Paralyzing Cask, Maledict OR Death Ward consider the following:

- Is the current situation a team fight? If so, there are likely to be other disables flying around the place, meaning you don't need Paralyzing Cask. There are likely to be powerful DoTs going off as well, meaning Maledict isn't as needed either. So if it's a big team fights and you only have enough mana for 1 spell, I generally choose Death Ward and let it rip.

- Is the current situation a [3v1 or 2]/[4v1 or 2]/[5v1 or 2] gank? If so, you will generally not need more disables because you are not the only person in the gank, so Maledict is a good choice because in these situations, all the enemy will be thinking is "run", thus your best option is to give them something that will follow them for a good 12 seconds. Cast Maledict and help deal as much damage as you can.

- Is the current situation an enemy gank? If so, Paralysing Cask and (if you have enough mana) Voodoo Restoration is your best bet. Stun the enemy as effectively as you can and flee with Voodoo Restoration turned on until you run out of mana. Sure you're gonna be useless until you've refilled but better running on empty than not running at all.

Above all, make sure you decide what to do and then do it, better that than hesitate and end up dead. Even if you make the wrong choice, you and your allies have a chance to make the most of that choice, whereas if you don't cast at all then you're in for a tough time.

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