Witch Doctor

Zharvakko the Witch Doctor is a ranged intelligence Hero who can take on the role of a support or a ganker. A master of voodoo curses and healing arts, he possesses several positioning-dependent crowd control/damage spells as well as a heal that scales well into the late game. Maledict is one of the most powerful damaging spells in the game, and is fittingly enough quite hard to hit properly - but when applied at the right time, Malediction can curse someone to suffer a slow, humiliating death as they limp back towards safety. Paralyzing Cask is a somewhat-unreliable stun that requires multiple enemies to bounce between to be effective, but can provide a barrage of stuns to the enemy team if they are grouped together. Death Ward has the potential to be one of the most damaging ultimates in the game so long as he is able to channel the spell uninterrupted.

Recommended items
Starting:
 * , and  are all regeneration items such and are strong choices to stay in the lane.
 * gives Witch Doctor extra health for survivability, and can later be upgraded to a.
 * is a good choice for Witch Doctor as he is a support and is not heavily item-dependent.

Early:
 * is a useful health/mana restoring item if the enemies in lane are casting many spells. It can later be built into a.
 * give a speed boost, offering better escape and catch-up. They can later be built into.
 * provides extra attributes that can help keep Witch Doctor alive in fights.

Core:
 * is good for burst healing and mana while providing bonus attributes compared to the.
 * provides Witch Doctor with an increased mana pool, as well as the ability to supply himself and nearby allies with mana.
 * allows to deal more damage, as well as the ability to bounce between each nearby enemy. This allows for far greater damage output, though it is most effective when you are paired with large initiation stuns such as, , or . This prevents enemy heroes from breaking Witch Doctor's channeling.
 * are a good choice for Witch Doctor as he is played primarily as a support. The vision provided by wards has the potential to prevent enemy ganks or catch enemies when they are off guard.
 * are essential for cross-map transportation. TP scrolls allow Witch Doctor to return to lane quicker after a death, meaning he misses out on less experience in the lane. They can also be used to quickly jump into a fight or defend a tower in a different lane.

Situational:
 * is a cheap item which reduces an enemy target's armor. Since deals physical damage, using the Medallion of Courage on a low armor hero greatly increases the damage dealt by your ultimate.
 * gives Witch Doctor a large increase to his mana pool, as well as additional attributes and the ability to hex an enemy target. The ability to disable an important enemy target is crucial in the late game.
 * provided Witch Doctor with an increase to his low health pool, as well as the ability to become magic immune. This prevents most enemies from cancelling your ultimate.
 * allows Witch Doctor to slow and deal additional damage in a team fight, as well as provide an increase to his mana pool and armor. It should be noted that the active ability can be used during your ultimate.
 * allows Witch Doctor to use for much longer. With enough Bloodstone charges, the Bloodstone regenerates more mana than the ability consumes.
 * is an effective damage dealing weapon for Witch Doctor if there is an important target that needs to be focused on the enemy team. It also synergizes well with, applying a large amount of bonus damage if the enemy does not heal immediately afterwards.
 * is a useful item for Witch Doctor for the same reason as the {{I|Black King Bar]]. While it only prevents one single target stun, its cooldown is much shorter and can be used on priority allies to increase their survivability.
 * {{I|Flying Courier|30px}} can be bought after the 3:00 minute mark. Being a support hero, Witch Doctor should purchase it as soon as possible (assuming no other Flying Couriers have been purchased).

Tips

 * is great with for fast positioning as allows you to blink in between trees as well on top of cliffs to channel  safely. Also it makes up for the short casting range of.
 * It can be a good idea to build a and use it exactly after casting . Activating  does not interrupt 's channeling and makes it harder for the enemy team to interrupt your channeling. However, be cautious about enemies buying Dust of Appearance, Gem of True Sight, Necronomicon, or AoE stuns such as Warlock's Chaotic Offering.
 * can be used to continuously stun two heroes with 200 distance to each other.
 * Alternatively you can save money by simply buying the Shadow Amulet alone. During the 1.5 second fade time you are able to issue any orders without hindering the invisibility from occurring. This is easily achieved with the double tap to cast on self option. When you are ready to place the ward, double tap the hotkey for your amulet, as you are about to fade place the Death Ward. Soon after, you turn invisible while still channeling the spell. It is best to practice this technique with Maledict before attempting in a proper fight.
 * Try to wait on casting Death Ward in teamfights until the enemies have already used some of their stuns, making it less likely you will be interrupted.
 * Casting Death Ward from a hidden position such as the trees, or uphill in the fog, makes it much harder to disrupt.
 * If there is a Rubick on the enemy team, keep in mind that you can cast Voodoo Restoration even while channeling, which prevents him from stealing death ward.
 * At level 1, Voodoo Restoration is one of the most efficient AoE heals in the game based on mana-spent-per-hitpoints-gained. It is often a good idea to invest a single point into this ability during early laning and then max it later after your other abilities once you have the mana regen to support the higher cost.
 * Paralyzing Cask is most effective when there are just two enemies close together. Under ideal conditions you can stun two enemies for up to 4 seconds each with this ability.
 * Paralyzing Cask stuns jungle creeps for five seconds, allowing the Witch Doctor to jungle effectively from around level 7 onwards. This is especially useful if you are falling behind or need to speed up a key item such as your Black King Bar or Aghanim's Scepter.
 * Casting Maledict on opponents often immediately forces them to retreat for fear of taking crippling damage while under its effects. You can use this to make enemies flee who would otherwise easily kill you or your allies. If they do not flee, then at best they're trading themselves for you.
 * Maledict is a very weak and expensive spell at level 1, and its damage only starts to kick in once you get it to at least level 2 or 3. In very early game fights, do not worry about landing a level 1 Maledict unless you're sure you can curse multiple enemies or you have enough burst to follow up.
 * Death Ward is an extremely effective spell against carries that typically rely on Magic Immunity to stay relevant in teamfights, such as Luna, Gyrocopter, Lifestealer, Sven, or Dragon Knight.
 * Although Death Ward is easily interrupted, it is an effective zoning tool in teamfights that either draw immediate attention from foes with important crowd control spells or forces enemies to retreat from the area which the Death Ward resides in.
 * The Witch Doctor's early game damage and utility from Paralyzing Cask and Maledict are extremely strong in the laning phase. Consider skipping points in Voodoo Restoration until you reach level 10 to maximize lane pressure and damage output. Having Maledict at maximum level as soon as possible allows you to pull off shorter duration Death Wards to secure important kills.
 * Paralyzing Cask stuns units in the fog of war, meaning if you use a high enough level Cask on foes nearby jungle camps, there is a good chance it will bounce back to your enemies.
 * Consider getting an Orchid Malevolence as it combined with Maledict can bring any damage done to the affected enemy to massive proportions.
 * If you plan to pick up an early level in Voodoo Restoration, it is often more effective to buy additional Clarity Potions instead of a set of Tangos or a Healing Salve

Trivia

 * Witch Doctor is sometimes called "The Walking Fountain", referring to his support abilities Voodoo Restoration and Death Ward.
 * Witch Doctor's last hit response Wdoc lasthit 05.mp3 "Pills here!" is a reference to Left 4 Dead, another title from Valve, where the players can notify the other survivors that they found pills. The survivors would say "Pills here" upon finding some.
 * Witch Doctor's original name in DotA was Vol'jin, a reference to the character from the Warcraft universe. Vol'Jin is the warchief of the playable race, the Trolls.
 * Witch Doctor's fun name in DotA was Moose, taken from the player DL.Moose who played the Witch Doctor.
 * His dying line Wdoc death 10.mp3 "Bad medicine.." is likely a reference to Bon Jovi's popular old classic Bad Medicine.
 * The line Wdoc kill 03.mp3 "Ask not for whom the spell tolls." is a reference to John Donne's poem "Meditation XVII".
 * It could also be a reference to the thrash metal Group Metallica, with their song For Whom the Bell Tolls